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DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

OF THE

BRITISH ISLANDS.

ON THE

DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

OF THE

BRITISH ISLANDS:

COMPREHENDING

THE NATURAL AND ECONOMICAL HISTORY OF
SPECIES AND VARIETIES;

THE DESCRIPTION OF

THE PROPERTIES OF EXTERNAL FORM;

AND OESERVATIONS ON

THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF BREEDING.

DAVID LOW, ESQ., F.E.S.E.,

PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH;

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE OF SWEDEN, AND OF THE EOTAL ECONOMICAL

SOCIETY OF SAXONY ; HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ECONOMICAL SOCIETY

OF LEIPZIG, AND OF THE SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE AND BOTANY OF UTRECHT J

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE " CONSEIL ROYAL D'AGRICULTURE DE

FRANCE;" OF THE "SOCIETE ROYALE ET CENTBALE," &c.

LONDON:

LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS.

PREFACE.

FROM early times, Great Britain has been distin-
guished for the numbers and excellence of the Animals
reared for the uses of the inhabitants. The cultivation
of the Horse began in the earlier periods of our history,
for the purposes of War and the tournament, and has
subsequently been carried to great perfection, for the
race-course, the chase, the saddle, and for draught.
The' cultivation of Sheep was early the subject of pub-
lic attention, and, as being connected with the woollen
manufactures of the country, was favoured by numerous
laws ; and within a period comparatively recent, extra-
ordinary attention has been devoted to the means of
cultivating animals for human food. It is during this
latter era, which began about the middle of last cen-
tury, that the greatest additions have been made to the
value of the Live-stock of the country, and that the
practice of breeding has been reduced to a system, and
founded upon principles.
Of the species of the Domesticated Animals natural-

VI PREFACE.

ized in the British Islands, numerous varieties present
themselves, to which we apply the term Breeds. The
characters of species may have been imprinted by ori-
ginal organization, or may have been the result of laws
of organic development and change, of whose nature
and operation we are ignorant. The characters which
distinguish varieties are those which may reasonably be
ascribed to known agencies, as climate, and the supplies
of food. The differences of character, indeed, produced
by agencies of this kind, may be very great; and, in
the case of many animals, the naturalist may be left in
doubt, whether the differences observed are the result
of original organization, or of more recent changes.
But however species may have originated, or varieties
have been produced, all animals submitted to domesti-
cation are subject to modifications of size, form, and
other characters, dependent on the conditions under
which they are reared ; and by breeding, we can com-
municate the distinctive properties of parents to the
progeny.

In the rural economy of this country, a high degree
of importance is to be ascribed to a knowledge of the
distinctive characters of Races or Breeds. Much of
the profit of the owners depends upon adapting the
breed of any animal to the circumstances in which it
is to be placed. By rearing, for example, a breed of
large and delicate oxen, in a country unsuited, from its
natural or artificial productions, to maintain it, we
incur the hazard of loss in various wavs ; while, on the

PREFACE. Vll

other hand, by rearing an inferior breed in situations
where one of greater value could be maintained, we
deprive ourselves of the profit which the natural or
acquired advantages of our situation present.

An error of another kind is the subject of constant
observation, the result likewise of imperfect knowledge
of the distinctive characters of breeds. For the pro-
curing of a breed adapted to the situation in which it
is to be reared, two general methods may be pursued ;
either a new breed may be substituted for that which
exists, or the old one may have its characters modified
or changed by crossing with other races. There are
many cases in which scarcely an error can be commit-
ted in our practice in these respects, provided we resort
to a really superior race; but there are many other
cases in which a change of this kind may be injurious,
or attended with doubtful benefit. Animals become
gradually adapted to the conditions in which they are
placed, 'and many breeds have accordingly become ad-
mirably suited to the physical state of the country in
which they have been naturalized. Thus, the West
Highland Breed of cattle has become suited to a humid
climate and a country of mountains ; the beautiful
breed of North Devon, to a country of lower altitude
and milder climate. In these, and many cases more,
an intermixture of stranger blood might destroy the
characters which time had imprinted on the stock, and
produce a progeny inferior in useful properties to either
of the parent races. Not only have individual breeders

Vlll PREFACE.

erred in the application of this kind of crossing to
practice in particular cases, but several entire breeds
have been lost which ought to have been preserved.
There are many breeds, indeed, so defective in them-
selves, that time and capital would have been lost in
endeavouring to cultivate them ; but not a few, as will
be seen in the sequel, might have been improved to
the degree required, by mere selection of parents, and
attention to the known principles of breeding.

Not only do animals become adapted in constitution,
temperament, and habits, to the situations in which
they have been naturalized, but characters Communi-
cated by art become permanent by continued repro-
duction. Thus, in the case of the Dairy Breed of
Ayrshire, by breeding from females that possess the
property of yielding a large quantity of milk, a pecu-
liar breed has been at length formed, exceedingly well
suited to the purposes of the dairy, and at the same
time hardy and fitted to subsist on ordinary food.
Now, such a breed might be injured, and not im-
proved, by crossing even with a race superior to itself
in many properties. Thus, a cross with the Durham
or Hereford Breeds would produce animals of larger
size and superior fattening properties to the native
race ; but even in these properties, the progeny would
be inferior to either the Herefords or the Durhams,
and inferior, as a hardy race of dairy cattle, to the
Ayrshire Breed itself. Hence, the crossing of a breed
of cattle with a race apparently superior, will not

PREFACE. IX

always be attended with ultimate good; and caution
and knowledge of the end to be arrived at are required
even in the cases where the good seems most easily
attained.

Another error of a different kind, but proceeding like-
wise from imperfect knowledge of the relative value of
breeds, prevails to a great extent. Breeds, in themselves
bad, are obstinately retained in districts fitted to sup-
port superior races. In every part of the kingdom, we
see breeds which are unworthy of being preserved, while
the easiest means are at the command of the farmer
of supplying their place by others suited to the lo-
cality. Thus, over the greater part of Wales, there are
races of wild diminutive Sheep, which, in economical
value, can bear no comparison with those which could be
supplied from other places. In Kerry, and other
mountainous districts stretching along the western
coast of Ireland, in place of such Sheep as the coun-
try could maintain, are to be seen assemblages of
animals of the size of dogs, and as wild as antelopes,
neither having wool fitted to the manufactures of the
country, nor being capable of fattening to any size.
Even in the heart of Yorkshire, as we shall see in the
sequel, a breed of Sheep is preserved, covering a con-
siderable tract of country, which, from its coarseness
of form, and inaptitude to fatten, ranks in the lowest
class of cultivated Sheep in England; and in every
part of the kingdom, we may see examples of the vast
public and private loss which results from unacquaint-

X PREFACE.

ance with the relative value and economical uses of the
different breeds of our domesticated animals.

To remove the causes of mistaken practice, in a
branch of industry so important to the interests of
producers and consumers, may be regarded as matter
of national interest. Prom the produce of live-stock
in this country, a large part of the subsistence of the
people, of the materials of our manufactures, of the
profits of the farmer, and of the revenue of the land-
holder, is derived. In many parts of the kingdom
tillage is difficult or impracticable, and the only valu-
able production is live-stock ; and it is not too much
to assert, that half the rental of the British Islands
is derived from this source. These considerations will
make it appear, how much the study and advancement
of this department of rural economy merit the atten-
tion of those who seek to widen the channels of native
industry.

Several years ago I published an account of the
Breeds of the more important Domesticated Animals
of this country, — the Horse, the Ox, the Sheep, the
Goat, the Hog, — accompanied by an extensive series of
coloured lithographic prints, being portraits of animals
of the different races, selected from the stocks of the
most eminent breeders in different parts of the king-
dom. This Work, in two large Volumes, is before the
public, and has been republished in other countries.
It has appeared to me, that the substance of it might
be presented to agriculturists in a different and less

PREFACE.

expensive form, and thus be adapted to more general
use. I have, accordingly, re-written the description of
the species and varieties, adding such remarks on the
properties of external form, and the principles and
practice of breeding, as may supply, in part, the want
of the original figures. I have likewise added to the
description of the other animals, that of the Dog, both
on account of the general interest of the subject, and
of its particular relation to the production of varieties,
and the effects of breeding.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

1. DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM,

2. PROPERTIES or EXTERNAL FORM,

I. THE GOAT.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES,

II. THE SHEEP.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES,

WOOL, . . . .

BREEDS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS, viz. : —

1. The Breeds of the Zetland and Orkney Islands,

2. The Soft-Woolled Sheep of Scotland,

3. The Breed of the Higher Welsh Mountains,

4. The Soft-Woolled Sheep of Wales,

5. The Breed of the Wicklow Mountains,

6. The Kerry Breed, ....

7. The Forest Breeds of England,

8. The Black-Faced Heath Breed,

9. The Cheviot Breed,

10. The Old Norfolk Breed,

11. The Penistone Breed,

12. The Old Wiltshire Breed, .

13. The Dorset Breed, ....

14. The Merino Breed,

15. The Ryeland Breed,

16. The South Down Breed,

17. The Old Lincoln Breed,

18. The Romney Marsh Breed,

19. The Older Long-Woolled Breeds, .

20. The Cotswold Breed,

21. The New Leicester Breed, . . .

PAGE

xvii
Ixx

114

118

120

122

126

155

160

169

174

180

186

190

XIV CONTENTS.

PAGE

III. THE OX.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES, .... 207

THE DAIKY, ...... 267

BREEDS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS, viz. : —

1. The Wild or White Forest Breed, ... 296

2. The Zetland Breed, .... ib.

3. The West Highland Breed, ... 300

4. The Pembroke Breed, .... 304

5. The Kerry Breed, ..... 309

6. The Angus Breed, ..... 312

7. The Polled Aberdeenshire Breed, . . . 315

8. The Galloway Breed, .... 317

9. The Polled Suffolk Breed, .... 322

10. The Polled Irish Breed, .... 327

11. The Falkland Breed, .... 328

12. The Alderney Breed, .... 333

13. The Ayrshire Breed, .... 339

14. The Devon Breed, ..... 345

15. The Sussex Breed, ..... 351

16. The Glamorgan Breed, .... 356

17. The Herefordshire Breed, .... 362

18. The Long-Horned Breed, .... 367

19. The Short-Horned Breed, . . . . 379

IV. THE HOG.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES, .... 395

BREEDS, viz. : —

The Siamese Breed, ..... 425

The Breeds of the Highlands and Islands o£ Scotland, 429

The Old English Breeds, .... ib.

,The Berkshire Breed, &c., .... 431

V. THE HORSE.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES, .... 435

CLASSES AND BREEDS OF BRITISH HORSES, . . 503

1. THE RACE-HORSE, ..... 525

2. THE HUNTER, ..... 587

3. HORSES FOR LIGHTER CARRIAGES AND THE SADDLE,

viz. :—

The Old English Coach-Horse, . . . . 601

The Cleveland Bay, .... 602

The Hackney, . . . . 604

The Cavalry Horse, ... ib.

4. HORSES FOR HEAVY DRAUGHT, viz.: —

1. The Old English Black Horse, . . 608

2. Breeds of the North-Eastern Counties, . . 613

CONTENTS.

3. The Clydesdale Breed,

4. The Suffolk Punch Breed,

PAGE

615
618

VI. THE DOG.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES or THE CANID^E,
CLASSIFICATION or THE DOMESTICATED RACES

1. THE LYCISCAN GROUP.

Dogs of the Arctic Regions,

Shepherd's Dogs,

Great Dog of Newfoundland,

2. THE VERTRAGAL GROUP.

Greyhounds,
Irish Wolf-Dog,

3. THE MOLOSSIAN GROUP.

Mastiff,

Bull-Dog,

Dog of St Bernard,

Old British Blood-hound,

4. THE INDAGATOR GROUP.

1. THE TRUE HOUND,
Stag-Hound,
Fox-Hound,
Harrier,

2. THE MUTE HOUND,

Pointer,
Setter,

3. THE SPANIEL, .

4. THE-BARBET OR WATER-DOG,

5. THE TERRIER,

622

700
706
711

715
722

723
728
732
734

736
739
740
741
742
743

ib.
744

ib.
746
747

ERRATUM.

Introduction, p. Ixxiii, line 15 from bottom, /or scapula read sternum

INTRODUCTION.

inq

I.— DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

ALL bodies may, with relation to their modes of existence,
be divided into two great classes, the first comprehending
those which consist of common matter, subject to the laws
of chemical action ; the second comprehending the bodies in
which matter is further subject to those other laws to which
matter endowed with life is subject. A stone, a metal, or a
piece of earth, is common matter, subject to known chemical
actions. A plant or an animal is likewise matter, subject to
changes of place, or disposition of its constituent particles, by
chemical forces. But, while the plant or the animal lives, it
is under the influence of other powers, and has its form, ac-
tions, and relations, determined and controlled by a distinct
system of laws. It is then a living body, and it is only when
it ceases to live that it becomes wholly subject to the chemi-
cal laws of common matter.

Of the laws which produce the condition to which we ap-
ply the term Life, we know nothing but from certain pheno-
mena which the living body presents. The essential cause is
amongst those ultimate truths which human reason cannot
reach. No approach has been made to solve the mystery of
Life ; and at this hour we are as ignorant of the cause of life,
and of the agency which connects the powers of mind and
the mechanism of the body, as at the first dawning of human
inquiry.

xviii INTRODUCTION.

Of living bodies there are two great divisions, the Vege-
table and the Animal. In the vegetable there is life, but, so
far as we know, there is no sensation, nor power of motion
dependent upon the will. In the animal there is sensation,
and the power of voluntary motion. An aphorism frequently
quoted is, that plants grow and live ; that animals grow, live,
and feel. Life, then, pervades both kingdoms ; but life, in the
animal, performs other functions, and sensation is added to
the powers merely vital.

Besides that distinction between common matter, and mat-
ter under the influence of the vital principle, which is founded
on the different powers and functions of bodies, there is an-
other distinction, obvious to the senses, founded on the dif-
ferent structure and form of the bodies. Matter uninfluenced
by the powers of life, presents itself in masses, or in regular
forms termed crystalline. In living bodies, the particles con-
stituting the organism do not arrange themselves in masses
or crystals, but form fibres, sacs, tubes, or other parts, suited
to particular functions. This structure is termed organiza-
tion, and is proper to the living kingdom, vegetable and ani-
mal. Hence the further distinction exists between the mine-
ral and living kingdoms of nature, of Organic and Inorganic.
Inorganic matter has its substance increased by the addi-
tion of further particles. Organic matter is likewise increas-
ed by the addition of further parts, but then it adds to its
own substance by the action of its proper organs. A mineral
is increased in volume or weight by the simple addition of
new parts : a plant, or an animal, deriving matter from other
substances, converts it, by the action of its organs, into the
various tissues which constitute its own substance. Organic
bodies, therefore, only can be said to grow.

As the particles of living bodies are determined and con-
trolled in their actions and relations by peculiar forces, so
living bodies resist changes, physical and chemical, which, in
the dead state, would take place. The influence of heat,
moisture, or other agents, which would subvert the union of

the par

.. „ V -

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XIX

the particles of a body when dead, can be resisted by the
same body when it is endowed with life. Animals, when alive,
have the power of resisting extremes of heat, which acting
upon the dead body would dry up and dissipate its fluid parts,
nay, reduce it to a cinder. Many persons have subjected
themselves to a temperature of the air far exceeding that of
boiling water, and yet the heat of the body itself has very
little exceeded that of its natural state. A few years ago
a French mountebank exhibited, night after night, to thou-
sands of spectators, in London, his power of entering a heat-
ed oven, in which he remained while a piece of flesh was
roasted. A coal-mine in Scotland, in the valley of the Forth,
having taken fire, burned for years, and long resisted all the
attempts to extinguish it. Miners frequently worked in the
vicinity of this burning mine, when the heat of the air was
nearly equal to that of boiling water. They pursued their
labour in this torrid atmosphere, without seeming injury to
their health, or other inconvenience than continued perspira-
tion : and many more examples could be given of the power
of the animal frame to resist extreme heat, while the tempe-
rature of the blood and other fluids within the body remained
without sensible change.

As the vital powers of the animal enable the body to resist
intense heat, so they enable it to resist excessive cold. At
degrees of temperature at which all the fluids of the dead
body would be frozen, the living body retains its natural
temperature, and performs its wonted functions. Even in
these latitudes of ours, there every year occur periods of
cold, when the temperature of the external air is below that
at which water congeals, and at which all the fluids of the
body would freeze were they separated from it. In countries
of the higher latitudes, the mean temperature of the year falls
below the melting point of ice, and yet such countries are in-
habited by numerous animals. The recent voyages of intrepid
travellers, the Parrys, the Franklins, the Rosses, and others,
have shewn that, at a degree of cold below that at which

XX INTRODUCTION.

mercury freezes, the human beings subjected to it can take
their wonted exercise and perform their accustomed duties.
Nay, there are cases to shew that certain animals may have
the great mass of their fluids frozen, and yet be preserved
from death. Fishes have been dragged up from the circum-
polar seas, which froze, as the nets were in the course of be-
ing raised, into masses so hard that they might have been
shivered to pieces by a stroke, and yet they would recover if
thawed. A common eel has been frozen like a piece of ice,
and been conveyed in a state of torpor thousands of miles,
and then been restored to its state of activity by the applica-
tion of warmth.

But there are degrees of cold to which the frame of cer-
tain animals in their state of activity is unsuited. Nature
here provides a remedy by rendering them torpid in the ab-
sence of necessary heat. Thus innumerable insects are ren-
dered insensible to the action of the external air during the
winter season. In the case of the animals termed hyber-
nating, sensation becomes suspended, the fluids of the body
circulate more slowly, and respiration and all the vital ac-
tions become less active. The torpor of the creature is like
death rather than sleep, and yet enough of vital action re-
mains to preserve it from the external agents, which, in its
condition of activity, would destroy it. It remains as if dead,
but as soon as the air recovers the due warmth, the vital
functions of the animal regain their powers, and it awakens
from its long trance. The dormouse, the marmot, the hedge-
hog, the bat, are with us familiar examples of animals that
undergo this state of winter sleep, during which they are
so dead to feeling that they may be tossed about, nay,
sometimes have the limbs separated from the body, or the
most vital parts exposed, without their exhibiting symptoms
of sensation. The swallow, which migrates to us in the
early part of summer, quits us on the approach of the colder
season. But some, too young or too feeble for flight, remain
behind. These betake themselves to holes in walls and the

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXI

earth, to remain in their state of slumber till the return of the
warmer season shall call them again into life. And other mi-
gratory birds, as the cuckoo and the corn- rail, are sometimes
overtaken by this sleep of winter before they have been able
to make their periodical flight, during which they may be
tossed about without their moving a joint of the body.

The lower tribes of animals, whose sensations are obtuse,
present examples yet more striking than the higher tribes of
the power of the living principle to preserve the animal organ-
ism from the action of external agents. Many species will
survive the most cruel torments, and revive after a long
period of seeming death. Certain species of vibrio have been
so dessicated by the sun that they have become like dust,
and, after twenty years, have been restored to life by sprink-
ling them with a little water.

Of the power of the living body to resist those agents
which would otherwise act upon and decompose it, an ex-
ample is furnished by a substance, the production of the
body itself. The gastric juice is secreted from the interior
of the stomach, and is employed to dissolve the food which is
received into the alimentary canal. This substance possesses
a prodigious solvent power, yet it never acts upon the living
organs with which it comes into contact in the body, although
capable of dissolving all animal matters when deprived of
life. Numerous parasitic creatures are formed to live in the
stomachs of other animals. When alive they resist all the
actions of the powerful solvent by which they are surrounded,
but the moment life is extinct in them, they become subject
to its powers, and undergo decomposition.

Examples, too, of the property of bodies having life to
resist those agents which would destroy them in their dead
state, may be everywhere drawn from the vegetable king-
dom. All the hardier forest trees resist the intensest cold
of the climates where they are naturalized, and the vegetable
juices remain without being frozen. Every perfect seed con-
tains within itself an embryo plant, which only requires the

XX11 INTRODUCTION.

fitting influence of heat and moisture that it may become a
living plant similar to the parent. But seeds which had been
buried deep in the earth for a period beyond computation,
have been found to vegetate and grow when exposed again
to the influence of air, heat, and moisture. Earth turned up
from the bottom of wells and mines, has been found to give
birth to plants whose seeds had been mixed with it, and
which may have remained for many thousand ages beneath
the surface of the ground.

Death, as well as life, is a law of Nature, and life with all
its powers is but the gift of a season. The organised fabric,
so marvellously formed, contains within itself the germs of
decay. The circulating fluids become more thick, the textures
more rigid, and the vital organs less fitted to perform their
functions. The balance is lost between the waste of the
system and the means of supplying its parts with nutriment ;
and thus, independently of all external injury, the time ar-
rives when the mechanism of the body can no longer work
with the vigour required to maintain the animal functions.

And when life at length ceases to animate the organised
fabric, the change that ensues in the body marks the cessa-
tion of all those powers which had enabled it to resist the
chemical effects of the agents with which it had been sur-
rounded from the period of its existence. Some of its parts
are exceedingly hard and durable, as the bones ; but they
are no otherwise distinguished, in their subjection to che-
mical agencies, from the flesh and softer parts which are
subject to so rapid a change. The heat which pervaded the
animal frame, and which may be believed to have arisen from
within by the exercise of the vital actions, is gone, the muscles
have lost their power, and all the gifts of thought and con-
sciousness have been seemingly taken away.

The living kingdom, we see, comprehends two great divi-
sions, the vegetable and the animal ; and each of these king-
doms is divided into innumerable species and tribes of crea-
tures, distinguished by their form, powers, functions, and

f"f
I

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XX111

relations with the world which they inhabit. In both king-
doms, we find not only an infinite diversity of organised
structures, but a passing from simple to more complex forms.
In the beings, the lowest in the scale of either kingdom, the
organs are few, or imperfectly developed. As we ascend in
the scale, further parts appear, further organs are called into
play, and further powers are given. At the lowest point,
the tribes of the two kingdoms seem allied, and proceed, as
it were, from a common root, and then progressively diverge.
In the simplest of plants, little can be discovered beyond a
series of minute cells. As we ascend in the scale, we find
tubes traversing this tissue, leaves unfolded, and other or-
gans called forth. So, in the animal kingdom, we find a pro-
gressive advance from simple to complex forms of structure.
At the limits of the descending scale are creatures so simple
in their organism, that they are scarcely to be distinguished
by the eye from plants ; and, like plants, they are fixed to
the spot which they inhabit. Ascending higher, we find
creatures with more expanded powers and more developed
organs, and so, in an ascending series, until we reach those
in which the highest development is presented to us of the
organs necessary for the exercise of the animal functions.

By the term Species, naturalists designate those animals
which are essentially alike in themselves and their progeny.
The number of animal species is exceedingly great. Many
thousands have been examined and arranged by the unspar-
ing labour of naturalists ; thousands are known imperfectly ;
and thousands must for ever escape our observation. Of the
individuals comprehended under these species, the numbers
exceed our powers of conception. The air is alive with liv-
ing creatures ; every plant has its crowds of inhabitants ; and
all the waters of the sea and land teem with life. Numbers
of these creatures are so minute, that some hundred thou-

nds may exist in a drop of water.

In order to classify these innumerable forms of life, they
are arranged into Groups, the members of which agree in

XXIV INTRODUCTION.

certain characters. The most general or comprehensive of
these divisions are termed Kingdoms, Sub-Kingdoms, &c.
These, again, are divided into Classes, Orders, Families, or
Tribes ; and these, again, into Genera or little Families,
consisting of one or more Species, that is, of animals essen-
tially alike in themselves and their progeny. The lowest
division that can be made is into Varieties, Races, or Breeds,
which consist of animals agreeing in the characters which
we term specific, but differing in certain minor characters,
assumed to be the result of known agencies, as climate,
temperature, and food. The classifications most commonly
received are founded upon that of the illustrious Cuvier, who
divided the whole animal kingdom into four great groups,
namely, 1. Radiata, or Radiated Animals ; 2. Articulata, or
Jointed Animals ; 3. Mollusca, or Soft Animals ; 4. Verte-
brata, or Animals having the basis of the nervous system
enclosed in vertebrae, or hollow bones.

The Radiata are so named from the general tendency of
their organs to proceed like radii from a common centre.
They may be regarded as the simplest in their forms of ani-
mated creatures. The nervous system, which, in the higher
order of animals., is developed in ganglia and a brain, is in
them rudimental, visible, when it can be discovered at all, in
a few fibres, surrounding the entrance of the alimentary
canal. Many of them present the appearance of a simple
digestive sac or tube, furnished with little arms or tenta-
cula, or with mouths for fixing themselves to the substances
on which they feed. Many of them are so small as to be
invisible to the unassisted eye, nay, some so inconceivably
minute, that a million of millions, it has been calculated, might
be comprehended within the space of a cubic inch. The spe-
cies, however, present a vast variety of size as well as of
form, from the simplest of all, to those in which new organs
are developed, suited to more varied functions. They are
all the inhabitants of water, and almost all those whose ha-
bits can be observed are predaceous, seizing their prey by

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXV

means of their numerous arms, and myriads of cilia. Many
of them are, like plants, fixed to the spot on which they live
and perish, as the varied species of Sponge, which are met
with on every rocky coast from the equator to the polar seas ;
and such are the innumerable Polypi, whose calcareous se-
cretions stud the ocean as with bushes and forests, and form
new islands and continents of Coral. Many species are ge-
latinous, and so transparent as scarcely to be distinguished
by the eye from the element in which they live. Yet such
creatures have a will, the faculty of motion, and the force to
prey on other animals. Such are the Medusae, some large,
some microscopic, which float in myriads together, so that
the whole ocean seems to be alive with them, giving often a
tinge to the waves over many hundred miles, and in the
dark emitting sparkles of phosphorescent light. The Radi-
ata, passing through almost every conceivable form, from the
simple digestive sac, to the sea-urchins, star-fishes, and simi-
lar creatures, which we may see studding the submerged
margins of our coasts, advance, by insensible gradations, to
the groups above them.

The divisions above the Radiata, are the Mollusca and Ar-
ticulata, nearly of an equal rank in the organic scale, but
differing from one another in the conformation which they
tend to assume. In the Articulata, the nervous system
begins to be extended in length, and with this the form
of the body. Some of them are minute transparent ani-
malcules, invisible to the naked eye ; and some of them are
like little wheels, continually revolving, and preying upon
the yet feebler creatures with which every drop of water
seems filled. A little higher in the scale are the innumer-
able parasitic creatures which suck the fluids of other ani-
mals, living within their bodies, and frequently proving dan-
gerous enemies even to man and the larger animals. Above
these are the annulose, or worm-like animals, whose skins
are furnished with rings, giving the articulated form typical
of the group ; next are the creatures formed with numerous

xxvi INTRODUCTION.

moveable segments and feet, as the Earwig and Scolopen-
dra ; next the innumerable tribes of Insects, most of which
feed on plants, but many of which are predaceous ; next the
Arachnida, comprehending the Spiders and Scorpions, crea-
tures strong, voracious, and endowed with wonderful in-
stincts, and frequently supplied with poison to destroy their
prey, or with secretions to form nets for entangling it ; and,
lastly, are the Crustacea, as the Lobster and Crab, having a
horny skeleton, enveloping the softer parts, and formed with
articulations or joints, to allow of the requisite freedom of
motion.

The Mollusca differ from the Articulata in not having
jointed bodies and limbs, but a soft body, covered by a mus-
cular integument, which assumes various forms in the differ-
ent tribes, and in most of them gives out a calcareous secre-
tion, which, hardening, forms a shell to serve for the pro-
tection of the animal. They are aquatic, with the exception
of a few tribes. They are infinitely diversified in size and
form ; but they are generally either slow-moving or fixed to
a spot, as the Oyster, the Mussel, and other animals termed
shell-fish. There are many of them phosphorescent, and
emit a brilliant light. They abounded in the past ages of
the world ; and whole mountains, and immense calcareous
strata, are formed of their remains. The lowest in the scale
are those which are soft, without heads, and destitute of cal-
careous secretion without or within the body : the next are
those which have shells, but are without heads, though fur-
nished with mouths, and numerous eyes around the mar-
gins of their integument: the next are those which have
shells, and a muscular disc extended under the abdomen, and
serving like a foot for crawling along the surface : the next
are those which are especially adapted for swimming, and
are either with or without a shell : the last and highest in
the scale are those which have feet and arms disposed around
the head, and which are, many of them, powerful beasts
of prey, furnished with large tentacula with which they

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXVII

entangle their victims. Amongst these are the Sepiae termed
uttle-fish, which have the property of emitting an inky fluid,
either to conceal themselves from their enemies, or permit
them to approach their own prey.

In all the kinds of animals enumerated, no brain, pro-
perly so called, exists, the rudiments of it merely appearing
in ganglia, or knots of nervous filaments. Now, the nervous
system is the instrument by which the knowledge of external
objects is conveyed to the sentient being, and by which the
ictates of the will are transmitted to the various organs of
the body. In proportion to its development, the animal rises
higher in the scale of living beings, and is endowed with
more varied powers. In the lowest tribes of all, it is merely
developed in bundles of fibres, surrounding the alimentary
canal ; ascending higher, it forms knots or ganglia, and still
higher, it changes its place, and expands towards the head,
and stretches along the dorsal region. In the highest order
of animals of all, it enlarges into a true brain, and, extending
along the back, is inclosed in numerous bones termed vertebrae.
The Vertebrata. or animals possessed of vertebrae, are
usually divided into four groups, which may be termed sub-
kingdoms.

1. Pisces.

2. Reptilia.

3. Aves.

4. Mammalia.

All the Vertebrata have a series of bones moveable upon
ne another, and bound together, termed the Spine. Each
rtebra has a perforation through it, so that, when the whole
ertebrse are joined together, a long continuous canal passes
hrough the spinal column. At the upper or anterior termi-
nation of the column, the vertebrae change their form, become
flat, and, being fixed together, form a rounded cavity termed
the Cranium ; connected with which, but distinct from it, are

fe bones of the face, in which are the receptacles of the special
nses, namely, sight, smell, hearing, and taste. The era-

XXVlll INTRODUCTION.

nium encloses the brain, the substance of which is prolonged
through the canal of the vertebral column, forming the spinal
chord, terminating in the lower vertebrae. From the under
part of the brain, and from the spinal chord, proceed bundles
of nervous filaments, which, dividing, subdividing, and inter-
mixing, communicate with every sensible part of the body.

All the vertebrata have ribs, or hoops of bone, for protect-
ing the lungs and other organs, with the exception of a few
tribes in which the ribs are rudimental. Their limbs con-
sist of two pairs, though one and sometimes both pairs are
rudimental or wanting. The upper or anterior limbs may
be arms and hands, as in man and the monkey tribes ; legs
and feet, as in quadrupeds ; organs for flight, as in birds ;
fins, as in fishes : the hinder or inferior limbs may be feet,
legs, or fins, according to the uses to which they are des-
tined.

All the vertebrata have a muscular organ, the heart, con-
tained within the chest, for propelling the blood through the
system. They have all respiratory organs, in which the
blood, passed through innumerable capillary tubes, finer
than the finest hair, is acted upon by the air of the surround-
ing medium. In fishes, and certain reptiles, the respiratory
apparatus is termed branchite or gills, over which the water,
containing air, passes ; in all the other vertebrata, the res-
piratory apparatus, termed lungs, consists essentially of a
congeries of minute cells, into which the air is drawn through
the trachea or windpipe from the mouth and nostrils.

In all the vertebrata there is a continued canal, which,
commencing at the mouth, extends through the body, and
which, enlarging within the abdomen, forms the stomach,
consisting of one or more cavities, in which the food is re-
tained for a time. The food is then acted upon by various
fluids, secreted from the interior surface of the stomach, by
the action of which it becomes a pulpy mass, to which is ap-
plied the term Chyme. The chyme thus formed passes on-
wards by the extremity of the stomach towards the remain-

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXIX

ing part of the canal, termed the intestines, which consist
of a tube of prodigious length, convoluted and packed within
the abdomen. The chyme, as it passes onward, mixes with
other fluids secreted from the liver and other organs, and is
separated into two portions, one of which, termed Chyle, is
to form the matter of nutrition to the body, and the other to
be excreted at the termination of the intestinal canal. Com-
municating with this canal is a vast system of vessels, termed
absorbents, which drink up, or absorb, the matter of the chyle,
and which, gradually uniting into larger branches, carry on-
ward the matter of the chyle, and at length uniting, pour it
into veins which are carrying the blood to the heart, and
thus mingle the nutrient matter of the aliment with the blood.
The blood, carried to every part of the system in myriads of
vessels, gives off the various matters which form the tissues
of the body, as the matter of muscle or flesh, where that is
required to be formed, bone, where bone is to be deposited,
nerve, fat, and all the other matters which form the animal
substance.

In all the vertebrata, the sexes exist in distinct indivi-
duals. The female has one or more organs from which the
ova, which contain the germ of the young, are detached after
conception. In the greater number of tribes, fecundation
takes place before the ovum leaves the body ; in certain rep-
tiles, and in most fishes, impregnation takes place after the
exit of the ovum.

The vertebrata, it has been seen, are divided into four
groups ; each distinguished by peculiarities of organization,
but all conforming to a common type. The simplest are
Fishes, the next Reptiles, the next Birds, the last, and most
perfectly developed in their organs, Mammalia.

Fishes have organs suited to the liquid medium which they
inhabit. They breathe by means of gills ; and have but
the rudiments of lungs, which are presented in the form of
simple air-sacs. Their bones are more soft and cartilaginous
than in the orders above them. Their limbs are short and

XXX INTRODUCTION.

expanded into fins, which, with the tail, are the organs of
progression. By contracting or expanding the air-sac, they
are enabled to alter the specific gravity of their bodies, and
rise or sink in the liquid in which they float. Their brain is
small ; their blood is red, but cold ; and the temperature of
their bodies is little above that of the surrounding element.
They are exceedingly voracious, preying incessantly the
strong upon the weak. Like all the other creatures, they
pass progressively from the simpler to the more developed,
until they are connected with the group above them, namely,
the Reptiles.

The division Reptilia comprehends creatures varying greatly
in their forms, but all conforming to a common type. Some,
like fishes, have gills in the young state, the lungs being
only developed when they are able to quit the liquid me-
dium in which they are born, while a few retain both gills
and lungs through life, so that they are true Amphibia.
This group comprehends the Batrachian reptiles, — the frogs,
the toads, the salamanders, and others ; the Chelonian rep-
tiles, as the tortoises and turtles ; the Saurian tribes, as
the lizard and crocodile ; and the Ophidean, comprehending
the snakes and serpents of all kinds. All the reptiles are
cold-blooded, and have a languid circulation. A few have
wings, and in a former age of the world the winged reptiles
were numerous, and of huge dimensions. The serpents,
partly aquatic, and partly living on land, are without feet,
and those which are inhabitants of land crawl upon the
ground, and many of them are furnished with a poison, with
which they are enabled to inflict deadly wounds. This sub-
stance, secreted by glands situated beneath the eyes, is con-
veyed to large tubular teeth in the mouth, by which the
venom is conveyed to the wound.

Rising higher in the scale of organization are the beauti-
ful and varied tribes of Birds. The bodies of these creatures
are protected by light plumage : their posterior extremities
are limbs of support when at rest, and instruments of pre-

-•

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXXI

hension and progression on land, and their fore -extremities,
expanded, covered with strong feathers, and moved by pow-
erful muscles, serve as the organs of flight. Their jaws ter-
minate in a pointed beak ; and their necks are long and flex-
ible, so that by moving it, they may vary the centre of gra-
vity of the body, bringing it forwards when in flight to be
more under the wings, and backwards above the limbs of
support when at rest. The external air permeates the body,
passing from the lungs even into the bones, so that the body
may be rendered buoyant. Their respiratory action is strong,
their blood warm, and their movements are agile and power-
ful. Impregnation takes place within the body, and the egg,
when protruded, is covered by a calcareous shell ; the heat
required to hatch it being usually supplied by the body of the
parent. In birds, the nervous system is more developed than
in the tribes below them, and their intelligence may be be-
lieved to be superior. In them we first find animals resign-
ing their natural wildness, changing their form and instincts
with the new conditions in which they are placed, and thus
submitting themselves to true domestication.

The Mammalia derive their distinctive name from mam-
ma, a breast, having glands by which the female is en-
abled to supply milk to the young. The mammalia are, most
of them, inhabitants of land, but some of them are formed to
live wholly in water, and some of them live partly in water,
and partly on land. The greater number are quadrupeds,
the members of both extremities being limbs, formed to sup-
port the animal, and serve the purpose of locomotion, and in
numerous cases of prehension. The monkey tribes possess
four members, having hands, but their natural motion is on
all-fours. Man possesses but two limbs of support, and is
formed to walk erect, his upper extremities or arms being
left free for the various uses to which they are to be applied.
All the mammalia bring forth their young alive, and so are
termed viviparous. They are divided into various groups,
hich may be termed Orders.

XXXli INTRODUCTION.

1. Cetacea, the Whale tribes, which, though viviparous,
breathing by means of lungs, and suckling their young by
mammas, are formed on a plan which fits them to live in
water. Some are formed like fishes, as the Porpoise and
the Dolphin, having a smooth and glossy skin without hairs,
and connected with the skin the fatty tissue termed blubber,
from which oil is obtained. The next in order are the true
Whales, of which some are the hugest creatures to which
life is given on this planet. They have no teeth, but they
have enormous mouths, which enable them to take in, along
with the water, shoals of worms, little shell-fish, and innu-
merable animalcules. It is when they rise to the surface to
breathe that they spout forth from their nostrils the water
which they had swallowed with their prey, in great jets.
They yield a vast quantity of oil, for which production they
are pursued in the seas which they inhabit, and harpooned
when they rise to the surface to breathe.

2. Ruminantia, so named from the faculty possessed by
them of returning to the mouth the food which has passed
into the stomach, and subjecting it to a second mastication.
All the ruminantia live on vegetable food, have the feet
cloven, and defended at the extremities by horn. They con-
stitute an order of creatures of the highest interest, com-
prehending the Stag, the Antelope, the Giraffe, and others,
amongst the wilder races ; the Goat, the Sheep, the Ox, the
Camel, amongst those which have been subjected to human
control. Living on vegetables alone, they are never incited,
by the appetite for food, to prey on other creatures. Some
of them are fitted to save themselves from their enemies by
flight, and are amongst the fleetest of quadrupeds, as the
Elks, the Deers, the Gazelles, which delight the eye by their
graceful motions. Some dwell on the summits, and amid
the crags, of mountains, as the Ibex, the Chamois Antelope,
and the Wild Sheep. Some are supplied with organs placed
in the head, which can often be used with deadly effect for
protection or revenge. These arms are antlers, or horns,

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXXlll

the former being cast off and renewed every year, the latter
enduring for the life of the animal. The Stag and other
allied species are furnished with antlers ; the Antelope, the
Goat, the Sheep, and the Ox, with horns. The ruminating
tribes may be said to be the most important of any other to
the interests of the human race, some of them being endowed
with instincts which cause them to relinquish their natural
wildness, and submit themselves entirely to our purposes.
The Camel is fitted beyond all other creatures to traverse the
burning sands of the desert ; the Ox, the Sheep, and the
Goat, have been the servants of man from the earliest records
of our race. The very species have been subjected to our
will : they till the ground for our support, and bear our bur-
dens ; they yield us milk, and hair, and wool ; and, finally,
they render up their bodies for our food, and their skins for
our covering.

3. Pachydermata, or thick-skinned animals, comprehend-
ing,—^!.) The Tapir, the Wild and Ethiopian Hogs, the Pec-
caries, and others, of which the Wild Hog is formed, beyond
any other animal, to submit himself to human control, and
multiply in the state of slavery ; (2.) The Hippopotamus,
the Rhinoceros, and the Elephant, of which, in a former age
of the world, many species abounded, whose bones alone now
remain to attest their former existence ; (3.) The Solidungu-
la, comprehending the Horse, the Ass, the Zebra, and other
allied species ; some of which beautiful creatures remain in
a state of liberty, and refuse to resign themselves to bond-
age': while others — the Horse and the Ass — have been sub-
mitted to domestication from the earliest records of human
societies ; (4.) The Dugongs, usually classed with the Whales,
which live in the sea, but crawl on shore to feed ; creatures
strong, but harmless and timid, and betaking themselves,
when alarmed, to their natural element.

4. Edentata, or animals destitute of incisor teeth, as the
gigantic Megatherium and Myolodon, now extinct; the family
of Sloths, fitted to pass their lives in trees ; the Armadilloes,

XXXIV INTltODUCTIOX.

supplied with a natural armour ; the Ant-eaters, and two re-
markable creatures of New Holland, the Duck-billed Water-
Mole, and the Porcupine Ant- Eater, which connect this order
with the Birds.

5. Rodentia, or Gnawing animals, as the Mouse, the Rat,
the Hare, the Squirrel, the Beaver, and the Porcupine. These
creatures are some of them predaceous, and others live wholly
on vegetable food. There are several of them possessed of
wonderful instincts for constructing their dwellings, and
many of them remain torpid during the season of cold. Some
visit our dwellings, as the Rat and the Mouse, without sub-
mitting themselves to our power ; and the greater number
are timid, and shun the presence of man.

6. Marsupialia, animals of diiferent orders, having a pouch
underneath the abdomen, where the young receive their milk
from glands, to which they attach themselves, — as the Opos-
sum, the Kangaroo, and the Phalangers.

7. Carnivora. or Ferae, animals especially destined to feed
on flesh, and which may be termed beasts of prey, comprehend-
ing, (1.) the Seals and Walruses, not less fierce and bloody in
the ocean than the others are on the land ; (2.) the Dog tribe,
comprehending the domesticated Dogs, the Wolves, the Jack-
als, the Foxes, and other wild Canidae ; (3.) the Ursidae, com-
prehending the Bears, the Raccoons, and other allied ani-
mals ; (4.) the Civet and Weasel tribes, as the Ichneumon,
the Polecat, the Ferret, the Badger, the Otter ; and, lastly,
the sanguinary family of Cats, — the Lion, the Tiger, the Leo-
pard, the Panther, the Wild Cat, and others.

8. Insectivora, animals that live chiefly on insects, and
which are, most of them, subterranean in their habits, as the
Hedgehog, the Shrew, the Mole.

9. Cheiroptera, constituting the varied tribes of Bats, which
alone, of all the mammalia, are endowed with the power of
flight. To this end their anterior limbs are expanded into
broad membranes, and their posterior limbs are furnished
with hands, by which they hang from trees and the roofs of

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXXV

taverns. Some of them live on fruits, most of them feed on
nocturnal insects, which they pursue from twilight to dawn,
and a few have the singular propensity of sucking the Wood
of larger animals while asleep.

10. Quadrumana, comprehending the Apes, the Monkeys,
the Baboons, and others ; creatures approaching the nearest
to man in the form and disposition of their organs, living
in some cases amongst rocks, but for the most part on trees,
and forming marvellous commonwealths in the rich forests
of the warmer countries.

11. Bimana, having two perfect hands, and comprehend-
ing a solitary genus, Man, classed with the Mammalia by
the relations of form and animal attributes, but raised far
above them all by those powers of mind which fit him to
perform the functions for which he is destined. He alone
is endowed with force of reason to know that the marvellous
system of which he forms a part has been ordained by a
Superior Power, and to believe that, when the frail fabric by
which he is permitted to communicate with the external
world shall have been resolved into its elements, the con-
sciousness will be preserved to him of his former being.

In the Mammalia, as in the groups before them, a pro-
gression may be traced of animal forms, not indeed in a
merely linear series, such as the imperfection of our know-
ledge causes us to adopt in our systems of natural classifica-
tion, but in a certain relation, which we can trace to the
degree of being assured, that the Mammalia, like the groups
before them, pass from lower to higher degrees of organic
development.

And when we look to the past history of the organic world,
as it is revealed to us in the innumerable remains preserved
in mineral depositions, we are presented with the like evi-
dences of a gradation of animal forms, from the simpler to
the more composite. Nay, there is just reason to believe
that animal life was first introduced on our planet in its
simpler forms. For, in the oldest fossiliferous strata, the

xxxvi INTRODUCTION.

organic remains which we discover are always those only of
the simpler forms, but chiefly the Mollusca, whose calcareous
coverings have remained after the softer parts have decayed.
At a long posterior era, we find the remains of Fishes, — the
next in order of the animal tribes above the Mollusca ; and,
at length, as successive periods rolled on, we find the remains
of Reptiles, and at length of Birds and Mammalia, all con-
forming to the more general types of animal forms, but all
distinct as species from any now inhabiting the land or wa-
ters of the globe : and continually, as the earth approaches
to the present conditions of its surface, new species appear,
until at last we discover animals identical with those now
existing, or differing slightly from them.

By Species we designate animals resembling one another
in their essential characters, and possessed of the p'ower,
common to the vegetable and animal kingdoms, of reproduc-
ing individuals similar to themselves and to one another.
Now, in the past eras, as in the present, we find animals
essentially alike, and which we infer were possessed of the
power of reproducing the like forms. A question which
enters into the fair range of philosophical inquiry may arise,
whether, in the course of immense periods of time, these
species have been so modified, in obedience to some grand
system of natural laws, as to become suited to new conditions
of external nature, or whether each mutation has been a new
act of creative power, called forth as the occasion arose, to
produce a new race of beings 1 We cannot certainly resolve
this problem by any knowledge we possess of the actual
changes of animal species ; and it is only from analogy that
we can venture to infer, that the operation of the same laws,
under which species have been called forth by the decrees of
an Omnipotent Powrer, may have adapted species to new
states of existence. Animals, it may be believed, must be
suited to the conditions of external nature under which they
are called to exist. The digestive organs must be adapted
to the nature of the aliment from which the system of the

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXXV11

body is built up and sustained, and the respiratory organs
to the physical and chemical constitution of the elements
which the living creatures respire ; and when great changes
take place in the relations of living bodies with food, air,
and other external agents, either we -must suppose that the
species perish utterly, or that they become adapted to the
new conditions in which they are placed. The temperature
of this earth, and, consequently, of the air and water with
which it was in contact, must at one period have been ex-
ceedingly great, as measured by the sensations of animals
now living ; and with the temperature, the physical and che-
mical relations of the solids and fluids of the globe must
have varied. We cannot suppose that the pristine ocean
contained the same earthy, saline, and other constituents, in
the same proportions as the present seas, or that the at-
mosphere, with respect to density and other conditions, was
the same as now. But variations in the conditions of ex-
ternal nature, having taken place from era to era, we
have equal reason, at least, to believe that corresponding
changes have taken place in the form and attributes of
species, as that alternate destruction and creation have been
the law of nature. For what periods of time the condi-
tions of the earth, with its waters and surrounding gases.
have changed so little as to have remained suited to the
maintenance of existing species, we do not know ; but the
period must be believed to have been vastly great, when
measured by our ordinary conceptions of duration, though
but as a drop, perhaps, in the stream, when compared with
the whole duration of the period since animal life was called
forth upon our planet. The age of the gigantic mastodons,
the huge tapirs, and the extinct carnivora of the tertiary de-
posites, which must have long preceded the era of man, is
yet but as yesterday compared with the age of the great
reptiles of the lias and oolite ; and the age of these again
must have been inconceivably posterior to the era of the
fishes and mollusea of the first fossiliferous strata. Although,

XXXV111 INTRODUCTION.

then, we cannot, with many physiologists, maintain that
species are immutable, and exempt from the laws of change,
to which all organic matter seems subject, we can say that
species may remain unchanged for periods of time beyond
any to which our inquiries, for the purposes of useful infer-
ences, need extend. It is matter of merely speculative in-
quiry, whether now, as in all the period of the past, the
earth, the air, and the relations which connect external
nature with the living kingdom, are not undergoing pro-
gressive though insensible changes, which may in the course
of unmeasured periods of time, react upon all the existing
species, not excepting man himself. It suffices for us to know
that species are to us realities, and remain constant in their
essential characters for a time which we cannot compute.

But there is a class of changes in organic forms which fall
more within our cognizance, and which merit our attention
in an especial degree ; — this is the class of changes, which
produce what we term Varieties or Races, in which the spe-
cific type is generally so far preserved that the animals may,
with more or less certainty, be referred to it, although very
often the divergence is so great that nothing can be traced
beyond the affinities which we terrn generic. The human
races, as well as the lower tribes, are subject to this class of
changes, under the influence of temperature, food, habitudes,
and other agencies.

Man, it has been seen, of all the Mammalia, constitutes a
Genus, into the circle of which none of the tribes, even the
nearest to him in conformation, enters. Many divisions have
been made of the different groups of 'men according to the
external characters, habits, traditions, and affinities of speech,
which have been supposed to connect them.

One great division has been supposed to comprehend, gene-
rally, the inhabitants of Western Asia and Europe, from the
•first historical records to the present time. This group of
nations has been termed Caucasian, from the mountainous
regions of the Caucasus, where the inhabitants have been

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. XXXIX

supposed to present the characters most typical of the group.
Similarities of speech, customs, and traditions, strongly indi-
cate a common lineage of these people, and we naturally
look to some region of Western Asia as the great centre
whence they have been spread. Let us assume for the mo-
ment that this region is near to the western termination of
the great Himalaya range, termed Hindu-koh, signifying
literally the Indian Mountain, and corresponding in part
with the ancient Aria, and that the race spread itself south-
ward beyond the Indus, northward to near the Arctic Circle,
westward into Arabia, and, by the Don and Bosphorus, to the
extremities of Europe, and again into Africa by the Isthmus
of Suez and the Red Sea ; and then we may understand the
meaning of the term Caucasian as it has been employed by
some, and Arian by others, to designate a great section of
the human family. In this sense, the Arian or Caucasian
Family comprehended the ancient Hindoos, who are supposed
to have migrated southward beyond the Scinde ; the Assy-
rians, Medes, and Persians, who founded early empires in
the East ; the Scythians and others, who migrated north-
ward, and were afterwards known in Europe as Goths, Scan-
dinavians, Sarmatians, &c. ; the ancient Chaldeans, Arme-
nians, Phoenicians, and other people, formerly inhabiting
Asia Minor and Syria; the Arabians of Asia and Africa;
the Celtse, Iberi, and other early colonists of Europe, who
are supposed to have migrated westward from the countries
south of the Euxine ; the Greeks, the Latins, and others,
who occupied the same countries at a subsequent age.
Amongst these people a certain relation exists, in customs as
well as languages employed, from early times. Thus, traces
of the Sanscrit, of which a dialect is still spoken near the
Hindu-koh, is found in the Scandinavian and German lan-
guages of Northern, and in the Celtic of Western, Europe.
Further, the members of this group are supposed to be dis-
tinguished from all the others by certain physical and psychi-
cal characters. Their complexion varies with the climate,

xl INTKODUCTION.

from the dusky colour of the Hindoo to the fine dark olive of
the Central Asiatics, the swarthy tinge of the Greeks and
Italians, and the florid complexions of the nations of the
north. The face is oval, straight, and relatively small, with
the features distinct, the nose tending to the aquiline, the
mouth small, the teeth perpendicular. The hair is soft and
slightly curling, black in the warmer countries, and of
various colours in the colder, as black, flaxen, brown, red.
The irides are generally dark when the skin is of that colour,
but in other cases light-blue, with intervening shades. In
this race the intellectual endowments of the species have
been the most highly developed. With it have originated
nearly all the sciences, and the most useful of the arts ; and
in literature and arms it has hitherto surpassed, and yet sur-
passes, the other races.

Turning to the elevated regions of Central Asia about the
70° of longitude east, at the great Altaic chain of mountains,
termed by the ancients Imaus, and held by them to separate
the Scythi of the West from the Scythi of the East, another
group of races, or, as we may rather say, another great
Family of mankind, presents itself, as if derived from some
region to the east or south-east. This family is commonly
termed Mongolian, from the supposed name of a great country
of Eastern Asia, comprehended within the boundaries of
Chinese Tartary. But the name Mongolia, it is believed, is of
European origin, and applied erroneously to a great country
of Asia ; the term Mog-huls, from which the name seems to
have been taken, being merely applicable to a certain tribe of
Tartars. Be this as it may, the Mongolian Family, so called,
comprehends all the Kalmuks, and other allied tribes of East-
ern Asia. It comprehends the inhabitants of Thibet, of China
Proper, of Japan, of Corea, of the greater part of the coun-
tries termed Indo-China. The Mongolian Family thus in-
cludes a great proportion of the whole human race. It is
characterised by the head tending to the square form, by
the face being broad, the nose flat, the cheek-bones promi-

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. xli

nent, the eyes oblique, and the ears large. The colour of the
skin tends to an olive-yellow ; the eyes are dark, the hair is
black, straight, and thin, and the beard is scanty or wanting.
These, the most striking characteristics of this immense
group, distinguish the Mongolians, so called, from all the
races of the family termed Caucasian. They have in certain
cases been conquerors, formed great empires, and arrived at
a considerable degree of stationary civilization ; but they are
suspicious of strangers, tenacious of old usages, and have
never arrived at distinction in science. They have formed a
written language, eminently copious, but rude, inartificial,
and wanting in the precision of grammatical construction.

The term Malay, or Polynesian, has been applied to the
inhabitants of the peninsula of Malacca, and the greater
part of the inhabitants of Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and other
Islands of the Eastern Archipelago, of New Zealand, and
the Islands of the South Sea. In this race, or group of
races, the head is somewhat narrow, the bones of the face
are prominent, the nose is broad, the lips are thick. The
colour of the skin varies from a tawny olive to nearly black,
and the hair is dark and curled, but not what is termed
woolly. These people, however, extending over a vast tract
of ocean, and being in certain cases mixed in blood with
other races, their characters vary so greatly, that it is impos-
sible to reduce them to a common standard. They have the
habits of islanders, and are, for the most part, bold, active,
and of warm temperaments, but unforgiving, treacherous,
and cunning. Within the limits, too, of the region of this
group, are tribes altogether distinct in speech, customs, and
external characters, and remaining in the savage state.
Such are the inland tribes of some of the great islands of
the Eastern Seas, and the black inhabitants of the insular
continent of New Holland.

In the great African Continent, the human race presents
itself with characters which, like those of the other animal
species of the same region, may be said to be peculiar to it.

xlii INTRODUCTION.

Of all the African Races, the most distinct is the true Negro,
inhabiting a prodigious extent of country on either side of
the equator, and fitted, by all the characters impressed upon
his race, to inhabit the wild and burning regions which
are proper to him. In the true Negro, the skull is narrow
laterally, the forehead is sloping, the cheek-bones are pro-
minent, the jaws elongated, the front teeth oblique, the lips
thick, the nose is broad and flat, the irides are dark, and
the hair is black and what is popularly termed woolly, and
the colour of the skin approaches to a jet-black. This race
has never yet exhibited great intellectual powers ; although,
under the guidance of humane instruction, the youthful Afri-
can has proved to be not unapt to learn all that we can
teach to Europeans at a tender age. The temper of the
people is eager, light, and joyous ; but their actions indicate
want of reflection. They have, in some cases, united to
form large communities, but these have been always barbar-
ous, and maintained by the present tyranny of the chief.
Although possessed of physical powers far exceeding those
of the tribes which have settled in their country, they have
seldom united their arms to arrest the progress of their ene-
mies, or avenge the wrongs inflicted upon themselves. Few
useful arts have yet penetrated their native wilderness, and
the race seems at this hour to be little advanced beyond what
it may be conceived to have been in the earliest times.

But the African characters recede from the grosser forms
typical of the true Negro, until they approach nearer to the
Caucasian type. Of this character are some of the races of
the interior, and above all, those which extend from the
great Sahara towards the shores of the Mediterranean, east-
ward through the Libyan deserts to the Nile, and southward
through Nubia to the high lands of Abyssinia, and again
into the countries of the Caffres ; and of this character, judg-
ing from their delineations of the human figure, were the
ancient Egyptians ; so that the Negro form, however typical
of the African race, becomes insensibly modified under the

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. xliii

influence of external agents. Through the Berebers, that
is, the ancient inhabitants of Northern Africa, the Nubians,
the Abyssinians, and others, there is a chain of connexion,
indicated by physiological characters and ancient dialects,
between the great African Family, and the Arabians, now
termed Asiatic. But the Arabians are included, by almost
all geographers and naturalists, in the Caucasian division
of mankind, although grave doubts may exist with respect
to the justness of this classification. The Arabians, in-
deed, were early mixed in blood, and connected in speech,
with the Western Asiatics ; but if we regard locality, ancient
dialects, habits, and physical characters, the Arabians are
more connected with the Berebers, the Nubians, and other
Africans, than with the people of Asia or Europe. What
contrast of form, temperament, and character, can be more
striking than that between the pale Hollander, beside the
dikes of mud which his labours have raised up, and the
light and dusky Arab in his tent of skin, amid the burn-
ing sands of his wild and desolate country. Yet, if we
assign a common lineage to the Caucasian and Arabian
groups, we must believe that the squat and clumsy peasant
of the marshes of the Zuyder Zee, with his brawny limbs,
is not only of* the same species, but of the same variety
or race, as the wild wanderer of the southern deserts, with
his swarthy skin, his coal-black hair, his keen dark eye, his
well-braced muscles and sinewy form, properties of the body
which, reacting, as it were, on the mind, have rendered him
active, enthusiastic, bold, and free, enabling him to roll back
the tide of conquest on the Northern Family, and become
for a time the master of the fairest portions of the globe,
nay, to found a religious faith which has enslaved, for more
than a thousand years, a third part of the human race.

Turning to the great American Continent, termed New,
with relation to our knowledge of it, but which we have no
reason to believe posterior in the order of existence to
those parts of the world which we term Old, we find innu-

xliv INTRODUCTION.

merable animal species, and amongst these Human Beings,
apparently as proper to the regions where they are found as
those of Europe, Africa, and Asia, are to the Eastern hemi-
sphere. But America, extending over all the varieties of
climates in which living creatures can exist, its human in-
habitants present great diversities of form and aspect,
though conforming to a general order of characters, which
may be termed American. The great distinction of the in-
habitants is between those on either side of the elevated
countries on the Caribbean Sea. The northern races gene-
rally resemble the Eastern Asiatics more than they resemble
the other families of mankind. The forehead is sloping, and
the middle part of the cranium elevated, the iricles are dark,
the face is broad across the cheeks, the mouth is wide, the
lips are thick, the ears very large. The colour of the skin tends
more or less to a copper-red, and the hair of the head is black,
straight, and long. The southern races, again, exhibit cha-
racters proper to their own region. If we compare the wild
warrior of the Canadian forests with the feeble remnant of
the misused Peruvian, the black Indian of the Caribbean
Sea, the savage horseman of Paraguay, or the athletic hun-
ter of Patagonia, we find differences as great as are employed
to distinguish the inhabitants of the Caucasus from the Kal-
muks of Eastern Asia ; but there is a relation between even
the most distant tribes, as in the copper hue of the skin, the
darkness of the eye, the lankness of the hair, which connects
the American nations by a certain general similitude. There
were in early times, it may be believed, partial mixtures
with Asiatic, Polynesian, and even perhaps African colo-
nists, yet we have no more reason to question that the
Americans were, from the earliest distribution of animal
species, as proper to the regions which they inhabited, as the
Negroes to the intertropical countries of Africa, or the Cau-
casians, so called, to Western Asia. Most of them had not
advanced beyond the hunter state, though there are traces
in the country of anterior inhabitants, and though empires

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. xlv

had been formed of considerable power and splendour, yet
destined to fall an easy prey to European strangers.

Looking at the great diversities which present themselves
in these different races of the human family, a natural curio-
sity prompts us to inquire whether they are of one species ;
and whether, on the assumption that they are of one species,
they have sprung from the same stock, and spread over the
earth from some common centre ; or whether they have been
called into existence, either contemporaneously, or at diffe-
rent epochs, according as the different parts of the earth be-
came fitted for their reception.

If, by species, we understand animals possessing certain
characters in common, which we term specific, and having
the power, which we see them to possess, of reproducing
creatures having the same characters, there can be no diffi-
culty in admitting that all the races of man, in so far as they
have yet been examined, are of one species. If, indeed, we
were to place beside a Persian of Ispahan, or a mountaineer
of the Caucasus, a Negro of the Gambia, with his sooty skin,
his wool- like hair, his projecting jaws ; or a Bushman of the
Gariep, with his pigmy form, his yellow hue, his restless
eye ; or a savage of Van Dieman's Land, with his lank hair,
his large head, his slender limbs ; we might find it hard to
believe that creatures so unlike were identical as species.
But, great as the differences of external form here are, we
fail to discover any difference of conformation which can be
regarded as essential, or which we should call specific. The
individuals of the most dissimilar tribes breed freely with
one another, and the progeny has nothing of a hybridal cha-
racter, but is as fruitful as the parents from which it springs :
and, however dissimilar the races in question may appear in
their external characters, there is nothing like that great
dissimilarity which we continually see in creatures admitted
to be of the same species, — as the wild and domesticated Hog,
and our Dogs of all sorts.

The other question, whether the human races have all

xlvi INTRODUCTION.

sprung from the loins of the same parents, or been called
into existence in different regions contemporaneously, or at
different epochs, though continually mixed with the question
as to the identity of the species, is in no respect necessarily
involved in it. Although we see far greater differences in the
characters of animals produced by agencies which we can
trace than in the different races of mankind, and therefore
may reasonably believe that all men have proceeded from a
common centre, and then have assumed, in the course of
great periods of time, the characters which they now retain,
yet this does not resolve the question as to which was the
mode which the Creator, in his infinite wisdom, ordained for
peopling the earth which he had called into existence ; whe-
ther, by diffusing the species from one region of the earth,
or from more than one. We are not entitled to assume
that identical species cannot have been called into existence
in different regions of the globe, either at the same or at
different times. We know nothing of Creation, whatever
fancies we may build up on our assumed knowledge. We
may imagine that we can observe something of the first ap-
pearance of life, as in the fungus, when it multiplies its or-
ganized cells at the rate of some millions in an hour, or in
the globules of the chyle, which, in their passage to the heart,
become organized beings ; but of the modes or times in which
species first manifest themselves in any given place, we are
as ignorant as of the laws which determine species to their
allotted forms. We may suppose that different parts of the
world have produced identical species, as much as that differ-
ent parts of the world have produced different species ; and
it were absurd to seek to limit, as it were, the Creative power
to our narrow conceptions, by arguing that, under the same
laws by which unlike animals have been called forth in dif-
ferent parts of the world, the like animals cannot have been
so. It is no solution of the problem regarding the origin of
man, to adopt, as has been recently done, peculiar definitions
of the term species, — as that a species consists of the like ani-

DIVISIONS OF T1IE ANIMAL KINGDOM. xlvii

mals proceeding from the same stock, or, in other words, from
the same individual or pair of individuals. For this is not a
logical definition, but a proposition, which itself involves the
very question at. issue. It may be believed by every one
that all men fall within the limits of the same specific form ;
but it were to reason in a circle, to define species as being
the like animals derived from a common stock, and thence to
infer that all men are derived from a common stock, because
they are like one another. All that we know of species, it
has been said, is the similarity of the characters which we
call specific, to which we may add the possession of a power,
which we observe in all known species, to reproduce creatures
possessing the like characters. But there is nothing in any
known phenomena of the organic kingdom to shew, that in
the animal any more than in the vegetable kingdom, it is a
law of nature, that animals which fall within the limits of
what we regard as the same specific form, must have been
derived from a common stock.

We can know nothing, then, by means of the unassisted
reason, of the production of the human species ; and if we
are permitted to reason concerning the times and modes of
its diffusion over the earth, we must call to our aid analogy
and reasonable probabilities, unless we are to assume that
the dispersion of man was itself a miracle, exempt from the
common course of natural events. It were rash, nay, impi-
ous, to assert that man could not be, or has not been, called
into existence in one part of the earth's surface, and dis-
persed, as from a common centre, to all the parts of the
world which he now inhabits. But treating the question as
one on which we may lawfully employ our judgment, it is
reasonable to inquire whether it be more consonant with the
known course of natural events to infer that different races
of men — though within the limits of the same specific form,and
so creatures of the same kind — had been called forth in differ-
ent regions of the earth to occupy it, or that one race only,
and this produced in a single spot of a boundless surface, had

xlviii INTRODUCTION.

been called into existence. We must remember that the
time which chronology assigns to the period of the disper-
sion, little more than 2000 years before the birth of our Sa-
viour, is a period wonderfully short for such mighty changes.
Arid it is hard to conceive, that, within periods of time ap-
proaching to this, human creatures can have transported them-
selves through desolate, and even yet almost inaccessible, re-
gions, to the most distant islands of the remotest seas, nay,
lived and multiplied until every trace of their ancestry had
been lost, until every art which they had carried with them,
even to every word of their own tongue, had been forgotten,
and until they themselves had receded so far from the pris-
tine type of their race, as to leave the naturalist to question
whether they were not to be classed with an inferior tribe
of beings. These are great difficulties, not to be removed
by tracing the similarity of speech and customs, by which
different sections of mankind are connected. For what does
this similarity of speech and customs, even where it seems
to be the most clearly established, prove 1 It may prove the
relations established between tribes and nations after ages
of strife, migrations, and admixture of races, but it cannot
prove the relations between pristine tribes, every trace of
whose very existence may have been lost. It has been be-
lieved, that the people we call Hindoos extended themselves
beyond the Indus within the historical sera, but who were the
pre-existing inhabitants whom the Hindoos, under their Brah-
minical leaders, subdued ? There are the vestiges of anterior
races in the country as distinct from the Hindoo as the lat-
ter is from the Kalmuk, in aspect, speech, customs, and tra-
ditionary legends ; and in several of the great Islands of the
Eastern Seas, are insulated tribes of savages wholly distinct
from the other inhabitants, the manifest relicts of an anterior
people. In Europe the Celtse are known to have settled from
a period beyond the records of any history, and yet the Celtse
were a people possessed of a religion, laws, an order of
priests, and arts, comprehending the knowledge of metals.

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. xlix

But all over the north of Europe, the relics are found of
people assuredly anterior to the Celtse, who used stone-
hatchets and flint-headed arrows, inferring a condition en-
tirely savage. Now, when we compare languages as the
proof of a common descent amongst tribes and nations, we
must, in order to make our argument worth anything, com-
pare the languages of people in the first ages, all the traces
of whose speech we may suppose to have perished with the
people themselves. When we compare the languages of a
posterior era, after unknown periods of war. colonization,
and the mixture of races, we may prove the connexion esta-
blished between countries and their inhabitants, but cer-
tainly not the pristine relation of the first people with one
another, or with any common stem. Thus a race of men,
we have seen, is assumed to have extended from the ancient
Aria, southward into the plains of India, and northward
into the wilds of Scythia, the manifest traces of whose lan-
guage, the Sanscrit, are found in the speech of the Teutons
of the north, of the Greeks of the west, of the Indians of
the south. This proves the relation between the members
of this people, but not the relations between races who, for
anything we know, may have previously inhabited the same
countries long before written speech was known. It is no-
thing strange that there should be analogies in the language
of different countries, when we consider that, beyond any re-
cords of history and tradition, tribes and nations have been
engaged in endless migrations and strife, exterminating or
mingling with one another ; and that within the period called
historical, empires have been formed, embracing large sec-
tions of the whole human family. Further, all men have
the like faculties and organs of speech, and it is not possible
that there should not be analogies in the structure of lan-
guages, even of the most distant and divergent tribes, and
even similarity of words derived from the same natural
sounds. But when we consider the faint similitudes which all
the unsparing labour of philologists has been able to trace

1 INTRODUCTION.

between the dialects of the rudest nations, whose language
alone bears upon the question, we have less cause to wonder
at the resemblance between them than at the radical diver-
gence which they present, in sound, words, and construction.
And with respect to similarities of customs, all men have,
within certain limits, the same wants, and must, in innumer-
able cases, be conducted to the same means of satisfying
these wants ; and wrhen we connect with this general cause,
the effects of intercourse during unknown periods of time,
we have far less cause to wonder at the resemblances, than
at the differences, in the customs of nations.

It will be seen, then, that great difficulties present them-
selves to the supposition of the derivation of all the varieties of
mankind from a common centre, at least within the period
which chronology assigns to the existence of the human race ;
nor are difficulties of a different kind wanting, under any hypo-
thesis we can form. It is not, however, necessary, with relation
to our present inquiry, to pursue this subject. Whether we
suppose all men to be of the same species, derived from a com-
mon centre, or of the same species, derived from different
centres, we equally reason on the assumption, that great
changes have been produced on the individuals by the influ-
ence of the agents affecting them. If we adopt the hypothesis
of one centre of dispersion for all the races of mankind, we
must suppose that change of place has converted the White
man into a Negro, and may convert the Negro into a White
man. If we suppose that the Primary Races of the species
were spread from different centres, as the Negro from some
part of intertropical Africa, the Caucasian from some country
of Western Asia, the Mongolian from some region of the East,
the Polynesian from one or more foci in the innumerable
islands over which he is spread, and the American from re-
gions proper to the great Continent to which he belongs, and
so on ; we do not, therefore, infer that these Races are not
severally subject to the influence of external agencies, and
capable of undergoing great mutations, under different con-

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. li

ditions of food, temperature, and habits. The Negro has all
his grosser features softened as he recedes from the burning
regions of swamp and jungle, where his most typical form is
developed ; the Kalmuk loses much of his harsher features,
as he becomes naturalized towards the confines of Europe, and
even assumes a new aspect, when forced to inhabit the glacial
regions of his own continent ; the Turcoman approaches
more to the squat and sturdy form of the Mongolian Tartar
as he extends eastward, while the Hindoo, acclimated in the
valley of the Ganges, differs so widely from the native of the
plains of Germany, that the aspect alone of the individuals
would not allow us to identify them as being of a common
lineage. These changes are the result of external agencies,
and may be regarded as the adaptation of the animal form
to new conditions. But the effect, as it may act on the or-
ganism of the Negro, the Mongolian, the Caucasian, the
Malay, must differ in each, and hence a great apparent mul-
tiplication of races throughout the world may take place,
although it may be the effect of the same agents acting on a
few distinct primary forms.

If, from the human species we turn to the inferior animals,
we shall find the like evidences of the power of external
agents to modify the animal form, and adapt it to new con-
ditions of life. Certain animals, in the state of nature, have
a limited habitat, and so present characters nearly uniform
throughout ; others have a very wide range of place, in
which case we never fail to find them more or less modified
in their form and habits. The Common Wolf, the most
bold and savage of the canine family, stretched over the
greater part of the Old Continent, and is found in the New,
from Behring's 'Straits to near the Isthmus of Panama.
Under these immense limits he often seems so changed that
he can scarcely be referred to the same specific type. The
Bear extends from Norway along the limits of the Arctic
Regions, and thence to the Caucasus and all eastward,
wherever woods suited to his habitudes exist, but so changed

lii INTRODUCTION.

that he can scarcely be identified with the Brown Bear of
the Norwegian Alps. In these and other cases, the changes
produced furnish continual matter of debate to zoologists,
whether the animals are to be regarded as distinct species,
or as varieties of the same species.

The changes produced on animals in a state of nature by
different circumstances, as the nature of the country they
inhabit, the means of obtaining their food, temperature,
and altitude, are often very great ; but it is when they are
reduced to the domesticated state, that all the changes which
they are capable of undergoing are manifested in the great-
est degree. Sometimes, as in the case of the Dog, it would
seem as if the influence of human reason worked a charm
upon their nature, nay, modified the form of their bodies, as
if to suit them for new services. Sometimes by the mere
supply of aliment, different in kind from that which they
procure in the natural state, or in greater quantity, the
form of the body changes, and with this their instincts and
habits ; and further, this change in their conformation is
capable, under certain limits, of being transmitted to their
descendants, and, by continued reproduction, of producing a
new breed, variety, or race.

The Wild Hog, which extends over the greater part of the
Old Continent, is the undoubted progenitor of the common
domesticated races of Europe. When this powerful and soli-
tary creature is subjected to domestication, we shall find, in
the sequel, that not only his form, but all his habits change.
He may be said, in fact, to become a new species ; and he
transmits all his acquired characters to his descendants. The
parts of his conformation regarded as the most constant in
the discrimination, not only of species but of genera, change
under the new relations in which he is placed. In the
wild state, he has six incisor teeth in the upper, and six in
the lower jaw ; but, under the effect of domestication, the
number is generally reduced to three in each jaw. The num-
ber of his dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and caudal vertebrae, vary

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. liu

so much, that it may be asserted, that he differs far more
from the Hog in the state of liberty, than many animals re-
garded as distinct species differ from one another.

Amongst ruminating animals, the Ox and the Sheep are
subject to great changes of form and character, dependent
upon the kind and abundance of aliment. With increased
supplies of food, the abdominal viscera become enlarged, and
other parts partake of corresponding modifications of form.
To suit the increased size of the stomach and intestinal canal,
the trunk becomes larger in all its dimensions ; the respira-
tory organs adapt themselves to the increased dimensions of
the alimentary canal, which is indicated to the eye by a
change in the form of the chest ; the limbs become shorter
and farther apart, and the body being nearer the ground,
the neck becomes more short ; various muscles, from disuse,
diminish in size, and the tendency to obesity increases. With
the form of the animals, their power of active motion dimi-
nishes, and they acquire habits adapted to their changed
condition. These new characters they communicate to their
progeny ; and thus races differing from those which, in the
state of nature, would exist, are produced.

The Carnivorous animals, in like manner, when taken from
the state of nature, and made to reproduce in a state of
slavery, manifest their subjection to the same laws of change.
The size and proportion of their organs of digestion and re-
spiration, nay, of the brain, the organ of thought, change ;
and with these, the relative proportion of the head, limbs,
and other parts, as we shall see in the sequel, in the case of
the Dog, who becomes almost plastic under the habitudes to
which we inure him.

And if we turn from quadrupeds to the feathered tribes,
we shall find the like proofs of the power of food and habi-
tudes to change the form, and with it the very instincts of
the animals. The Domestic Goose is derived from the Wild
of the same species, which inhabits the boundless marshes
of northern latitudes. This noble bird visits us on the ap-

liv INTRODUCTION.

proach of the arctic winter, in those remarkable troops which
all of us have beheld cleaving the air like a wedge, often at
a vast height, and sometimes only recognised by their shrill
voices amongst the clouds. When the eggs of this species
are obtained, and the young are supplied with food in unli-
mited quantity, the result is remarkable. The intestines,
and with them the abdomen, become so much enlarged, that
the animal nearly loses the power of flight, and the powerful
muscles that enabled him, when in the wild state, to take
such flights, become feeble from disuse, and his long wings
are rendered unserviceable. The beautiful bird that out-
stripped the flight of the eagle, is now a captive without a
chain. A child will guide him to his resting-place with a
wand, and he is unable to raise himself by flight above the
walls of the yard that confine him ; and he gives birth to a
race of creatures as helpless and removed from the natural
condition as he himself had become.

The Wild Duck, too, affords us a similar example. This
wary bird arrives in flocks from the vast morasses of the
colder countries. Many pairs remain in the swamps, pools,
and sedgy rivers, of lower latitudes ; but the greater number
retrace their flight to the boundless regions where they
themselves have been hatched, and where they can rear their
young in safety. If the eggs of this bird be taken, and the
young be supplied with food in the manner usual in the do-
mestic state, the animals will have changed the form, in-
stincts, and habits of their race. Like the Goose, they lose
the power of flight by the increased size of their abdomen,
and the diminished power of their pectoral muscles ; and
other parts of their body are altered to suit this conforma-
tion. All their habits change ; they lose the caution and
sense of danger which, in their native state, they possessed.
The male no longer retires with a single female to breed, but
becomes polygamous, and his progeny lose the power and
the will to regain the freedom of their race. The Swan, the
noblest of all the water-fowls, becomes chained, as it were,

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. lv

to our lakes and ponds, by the mere change of his natural
form.

The common gallinaceous fowls, in the state of nature,
live amongst trees, and, when subjugated, still retain the
desire to roost on elevated objects. But they can now with
difficulty ascend the perches prepared for them ; their abdo-
minal viscera having extended, their bodies have enlarged
posteriorly, the breast has become wider, and the neck more
short, and their wings having become insufficient to support
the increased weight of their bodies, they have almost lost
the power of flight ; and so changed is their entire conforma-
tion, that naturalists can but conjecture from what parent
stock they have been derived.

Besides the effect of increased or diminished supplies of
food in modifying the animal form, much is to be ascribed to
temperature, humidity, altitude, and, consequently, the rarity
or density of the air. The effect of heat is everywhere ob-
served, as it modifies the secretions which give colour to the
skin, and the degree of covering provided for the protection
of the body, whether wool or hair. In the case of the human
species, the effects of temperature on the colour of the skin,
and, with this, on the colour of the eyes and hair, are sufficient-
ly known. We cannot pass from the colder parts of Europe
to the warmer, without marking the progressive diversities of
colour, from the light complexion of the northern nations,
to the swarthy tinge of the Spaniards, Italians, and Greeks ;
and when we have crossed the Mediterranean into Africa,
the dark colour, which is proper to all the warmer regions of
the globe, everywhere meets the eye. The Jews, naturally
as fair as the other inhabitants of Syria, become gradually
darker, as they have been for a longer or shorter time accli-
mated in the warmer countries ; and in the plains of the
Ganges, they are as dark as Hindoos. The Portuguese who
have been naturalized in the African colonies of their nation,
have become entirely black. If we suppose, indeed, the great
races of mankind to have been called into existence in differ-

v INTRODUCTION.

ent regions, we must suppose that they were born with the
colour, as well as the other attributes, suited to the climates
of the countries which they were to inhabit. It accords with
this supposition, that the Negro remains always black, even
in the highest latitudes to which he has been carried ; and
that the black races of the Eastern Islands retain the colour
proper to them in the mild temperature of Van Diemen's
Land. The Mongolian, even in the coldest regions of North-
ern Asia, retains the hue distinctive of his family, but with a
continually deepening shade as he approaches to the inter-
tropical countries. The native of China, of a dull yellow
tint at Pekin, is at Canton nearly as dark as a Lascar. The
American Indian retains his distinctive copper hue amid the
snows of Labrador ; but, on the shores of the Caribbean Sea,
becomes nearly as black as an African.

Temperature likewise affects the size and form of the body.
The members of the Caucasian group towards the Arctic
Circle are of far inferior bulk of body to the natives of tem-
perate countries. The Central Asiatics, in elevated plains,
are sturdy and short, the result of an expansion of the
chest ; the Hindoos are of slender form and low physical
powers, so that they have almost always yielded to the
superior force of the northern nations, from the first in-
vasion of the Macedonians, to the ultimate establishment
of European power in the Peninsula. The Negro, on the
other hand, in the hottest and most pestilential regions of
the habitable earth, where the Caucasian either perishes, or
becomes as slender as a stripling, is of a strength and sta-
ture which would be deemed great in any class of men,
affording a strong presumption in favour of the opinion of
the distinctness of his race, and its special adaptation to the
region in which it has been placed.

In quadrupeds, the effects of temperature are everywhere
observable in the covering provided for their body, whether
wool or hair, and which, in the same species, is always more
abundant in the colder than in the warmer countries. In

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. Ivii

all quadrupeds there is a growth of down or wool under-
neath the hair, and more or less mixed with it. In warm
countries, this wool is little if at all developed ; but, in the
colder, it frequently becomes the principal covering of the
skin, forming, along with the hair, a thick fur. In the warm-
est regions, the domestic sheep produces scarcely any wool ;
in temperate countries he has a fleece properly so called ;
and in the coldest of all, his wool is mixed with long hair
which covers it externally. The wool, an imperfect conduc-
tor of heat, preserves the natural temperature of the body,
and thus protects the animal from cold, while the long hair
is fitted to throw off the water which falls upon the body in
rain or snow. But in the warm season the wool, which
would be incommodious, falls off, to be renewed before win-
ter, while the hair always remains. The Dog, too, has a
coat of wool, which he loses in countries of great heat, but
which, in colder countries, grows so as to form, along with
the hair, a thick fur, so that, in certain colcT countries, there
have been formed breeds of dogs to produce wool for cloth-
ing. The dogs of Europe conveyed to warm countries fre-
quently lose even their hair, and become as naked as ele-
phants, and in every country their fur is suited to the nature
of the climate.

Similar to the effects of temperature is that of humidity,
the hair becoming longer and more oily in the moister coun-
tries. Even within the limits of our own Islands, the Ox of
the western coasts, exposed to the humid vapours of the At-
lantic, has longer hair than the Ox of the eastern districts.
Even the effect of continued exposure to winds and storms
may modify parts of the animal form. There are certain
breeds of gallinaceous fowls which are destitute of the rump
so called. Most of the common fowls of the Isle of Arran,
on the coast of Scotland, have this peculiarity. This little
island consists of high hills, on which scarcely a bush exists
to shelter the animals which inhabit it from the continued
gales of the Atlantic. The feathers of a long tail might in-

Iviii INTRODUCTION.

commode the animals, and therefore, we may suppose, they
disappear ; and were peacocks to be reared under similar
circumstances, it is probable, that, in the course of successive
generations, they would lose the beautiful appendage which
they bring from their native jungles.

The effects, likewise, of altitude are to be numbered
amongst those which modify the characters of animals. In
general, the animals of mountains are smaller and more agile
than those of the same species inhabiting plains. In man,
the pulse increases in frequency as he ascends into the at-
mosphere, so that, while at the level of the sea. the number
of beats is 70 in a minute, at the height of 4000 feet the
number exceeds 100. The air being rarer, a greater quan-
tity of it must be drawn into the lungs to afford the oxygen
necessary to carry off the excess of carbon in the system.
But gradually, as man and other animals become naturalized
in an elevated country, the digestive and respiratory organs,
and with these the capacity of the chest and abdomen, become
suited to their new relations. Humboldt remarks on the ex-
traordinary development of the chest in the inhabitants of
the Andes, producing even deformity ; and he justly observes,
that this is a consequence of the rarity of the air which de-
mands an extension of the lungs.

The effects have been referred to of use or exercise in mo-
difying certain parts of the animal form. The limbs of many
animals inured or compelled to speed become extended in
length, as of the dogs employed in the chase of the swifter ani-
mals. The limbs of an animal deprived of the means of mo-
tion become feeble and small, as the wings of domesticated
birds. In the natural state, the cow has a small udder, yet
sufficient to contain the milk which her young requires ; in
the domesticated state, by milking her, the organ becomes
enlarged, so as to contain a quantity of milk, beyond what
the wants of her own offspring demand. Nor are the charac-
ters thus acquired confined to the individuals on which they
have been impressed, but may be transmitted to their pos-

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. lix

te-rity. Some of the wild horsemen of the plains of South
America are, from infancy, continually on horseback, and
their limbs are observed to become slender and almost unfit
for walking, which characters reappear in the children of the
tribe. Amongst the causes, then, which tend to form va-
rieties, are to be numbered the habitudes of animals, whether
in the wild or domesticated state.

Of the means by which the animal organism becomes
adapted to new relations we know nothing. We see that
within the limits of the specific form, animals become suited
to the nature and abundance of their aliment, to the condi-
tion of the external air with respect to temperature, humi-
dity, and density, and to the habits imposed upon them for
obtaining their vegetable food when they are herbivorous, or
capturing their prey when they feed on flesh ; but how or
why this is, we know no more than how or why animals as-
sume and preserve the form proper to their species. We
may well believe that species are called forth, and their
forms placed in the fitting relation with external nature, in
obedience to some grand system of Natural Laws, the results
of which we may hope in certain cases to trace, but of the
efficient cause of which we cannot hope to obtain a know-
ledge. But when we speak of causes in common language,
we do not, it is well known, refer to what metaphysicians
term efficient causes, but to the antecedents of those pheno-
mena which we term effects ; and it is in this sense that we
say that the causes of the varieties of animal species are
food, climate, habitudes, and the other agencies whose effects
we have the means of observing.

But all the causes enumerated would not of themselves be
sufficient to form permanent varieties or breeds, were it not
for that other law of the animal economy by which animals
are enabled to communicate the characters acquired to their
progeny, and by which the latter are enabled to retain those
characters with more or less constancy.

That animals which, from any cause, have acquired a pecu-

Ix INTRODUCTION.

liar conformation, may transmit the same properties of form
to their young, and these again to their descendants, has been
matter of observation in every age. The greyhound com-
municates to his progeny, the flexible neck, the long back,
the slender agile limbs, which fit him for capturing his prey
by speed ; the blood-hound transmits his expanded nostril,
fitted for that surpassing sense of smell which enables him
to follow the evanescent traces of his victim upon the ground ;
the bull-dog transmits to his young his muscular form and
powerful jaws. No one ever expects to see two greyhounds
produce an animal like a terrier ; two blood-hounds, one re-
sembling a shepherd's cur; two bull-dogs, any animal dif-
ferent in essential characters from themselves. And in all
those varieties of the other domesticated animals which we
term breeds, the constancy of the law of transmitted proper-
ties is alike manifested. The Merino sheep communicates to
its young the properties which it has acquired on the moun-
tain pastures of Spain, of producing a short unctuous wool,
and this in localities so different as in the granitic soils of
Sweden, the plains of Silesia, the sands of the Cape of Good
Hope, and the myrtle forests of New Holland. The Horse
of the Arabian deserts, wherever he is carried, communicates
to his descendants the properties distinctive of his race. The
great Black Horse of the meadows of Flanders transmits to
his progeny the massive form and very colour which he has
himself acquired ; the Race-Horse of England, the conforma-
tion which adapts him to rapid motion ; the Pony of Norway,
the characters which have fitted him for a country of heaths
and mountains : and so on in every case where animals, by
successive reproduction with one another, have acquired the
common properties which constitute a breed.

In the human species, that similarity of features which is
termed family likeness, is a familiar example of the same
effect, not only manifesting itself in the immediate descend-
ants, but reappearing often after several generations. The
community of character which constitutes national resem-

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. Ixi

blance, is matter likewise of common observation. By the
successive reproduction between the individuals of a tribe or
nation, a common set of characters is by degrees acquired,
which, becoming permanent, generate a true race. This
effect is most notable in small and insulated tribes, whose
members intermarry only with one another. In the Ameri-
can forests, many of the tribes of Indians can be distinguished
from one another at a glance. In the case of the Celtic na-
tives of Europe, the Clans became frequently as much dis-
tinguished from one another by feature as by their mutual
hatred ; and the characters which they had acquired are in
many cases retained by their descendants to the present
hour. In the countries of the East, where the barrier of
castes had been established, all the distinctions of race are
seen to be established, so that the members of different castes
can be discriminated from one another as readily as the in-
habitants of distant countries.

It has been frequently observed, that what are termed ac-
cidental variations are susceptible of being transmitted and
rendered permanent characters. Some persons have been
born with six fingers or toes, and this peculiarity being trans-
mitted, has continued in the same family for generations.
The case of a family in England, whose bodies were covered
with cuticular appendages resembling the quills of porcu-
pines, has been often cited ; and a breed of sheep in America
was procured, having short limbs resembling those of an
otter, and therefore termed the otter breed. We cannot,
however, term such varieties accidental. There is nothing
in the phenomena of nature, to which the term accident can
be justly applied. The characters were doubtless the result
of some organic change proper to the animals in which they
appeared, and their transmission to their progeny is only the
exemplification of a law common to other cases of transmitted
characters.

The permanence of characters acquired by varieties is often
wonderfully great. In the sculptured monuments of the

Ixii INTRODUCTION.

Egyptians, are to be found the delineation of features which
may still be traced in the degraded Fellahs of the country.
The Jews, after the lapse of many centuries, retain, in in-
numerable cases, the lineaments of their race, and although
influenced, in the colour of the skin, by effects of temperature,
may yet be discriminated, in countries where they have been
naturalized, as a distinct people. The wandering tribes of
Gipsies, which are spread over a great part of Europe, retain,
after many centuries, the essential characters of their race, —
the swarthy visage, the keen dark eye, the lank black hair.
In India, there exist whole tribes as much distinct in aspect,
as in speech and customs, from all around them, although
every trace of their ancestry has been lost ; and in the same
country the Parsees, driven beyond the Indus by the Moham-
medans, seem to be nearly the same people as when expelled
from their Persian homes. The Laplanders, amid the snows
of the Arctic regions, have preserved the colour and features
indicative of their Asiatic descent ; and the Negroes, reduced
to bondage in a distant land, have preserved from age to age
all the essential lineaments and characters distinctive of the
African family.

In the case of the domesticated quadrupeds, we find simi-
lar evidences of the wonderful permanence of characters once
acquired and imprinted on the animals. In certain breeds of
oxen and sheep, the animals retain from generation to gene-
ration their distinctive marks, the presence or absence of
horns, the length and peculiar bending of these appendages,
and even the minutest variations of colour, as spots of white
or black on certain parts of the body. We are made ac-
quainted with the peculiar colour of the horses of some of the
barbarous hordes that entered Italy when the empire fell,
as piebald and clouded ; and the colour is yet preserved in
some of the races of modern Italy.

The degree of permanence of the acquired properties of
races may be supposed to bear some ratio to the time during
which an intermixture of blood has been continued amongst

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGHOM. Ixiii

the members of a common stock. When two animals of dis-
similar characters breed together, the progeny partake of the
properties of both parents. It is only by continued repro-
duction between their descendants, that a common class of
characters is acquired, and a true variety formed ; and the
longer this successive reproduction and intermixture of blood
are carried on, the more permanent may the transmitted
characters be supposed to become.

It appears, too, that the nearer animals are allied in blood,
the more quickly is the similarity of characters distinctive of
a breed acquired. In the practice of English breeders, it has
not been uncommon to unite brothers with sisters, and pa-
rents with their direct progeny, and to carry on this system
for a long period. The physiological effect is remarkable,
not only producing more quickly that community of charac-
ters which constitutes a breed, but affecting the temperament
and constitution of the animals. Under this system long
continued, the animals manifest symptoms of degeneracy, as
if a violence had been done to their natural instincts. They
become, as it were, sooner old ; the males lose their virile"
aspect, and become at length incapable of propagating their
race, and the females lose the power of secreting milk in suf-
ficient quantity to nourish their young. These effects may
not for a time be very observable, but, by carrying on the
system sufficiently far, they never fail to manifest themselves.
Dogs continually reproduced from the same litter exhibit,
after a time, the aspect of feebleness and degeneracy. The
hair becomes scanty, or falls off, the size diminishes, the
limbs become slender, the eyes sunk, and all the characters
of early age present themselves. Hogs have been made
the subjects of similar experiments. After a few generations,
the victims manifest the change induced in the system. They
become of diminished size, the bristles are changed into hair,
the limbs become feeble and short, the litters diminish in
frequency and in the number of the young produced, the
mother becomes unable to nourish them, and, if the experi-

Ixiv INTRODUCTION.

ment be carried as far as the case will allow, the feeble and
frequently monstrous offspring will be incapable of being
reared up, and thus the miserable race will utterly perish.

In the state of liberty these effects do not manifest them-
selves. The instincts of the animals, it may be believed,
cause them to choose the fitting mates for propagating their
own race. In man, the continued alliance of individuals too
near in blood, is prevented by conscience, and by feelings
which seem innate. In carnivorous quadrupeds, what we
term instinct supplies the place of judgment and reflection,
and the females make choice of certain males in preference
to others, by which means, it is to be believed, the race is
preserved from deterioration by unsuitable combinations. In
the case of the social herbivorous quadrupeds, the end is at-
tained by the males being possessed of the power and desire
to expel the feebler members of the herd during the season
of sexual intercourse. The bull, with his powerful neck,
possesses only short blunted horns, fitted, not to destroy his
rivals by shedding their blood, but to expel them for a time
from the herd. Thus he drives away the younger and feebler
members, until compelled in his turn to yield to younger
rivals. The ram is furnished with a thick forehead fitted for
butting, by which means he is enabled to stun, without de-
stroying, his rivals of the flock. In the deer tribes are pro-
duced, at the season of sexual desire, those huge antlers by
which the stronger males are enabled to terrify and subdue
the weaker ; but these organs are temporary, and, after the
season of rutting, fall off, to be renewed at the fitting time
in the following year. By these and other means we are
entitled to infer that a natural provision is made against the
effects of unsuitable alliances of animals in the natural state.
It is only when in the state of absolute slavery, that we are
enabled to overcome the instinctive feelings of the animals
subjected to our power, and to compel them to relinquish, as
it were, their natural appetites.

The characters which animals of the same species trans-

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. Ixv

mit to their descendants so as to constitute varieties, are, we
have seen, those of the body ; but the mechanism of the
body reacts upon the mind, and faculties which we term
mental are therefore transmissive. No one can doubt that
instinct is due to the mechanism of the nerves, and that
even the higher attributes of reason are due to the develop-
ment of the nervous system in the brain. But we can ob-
tain, by breeding, animals with crania of different size and
form, and consequently, with brains of different capacity and
powers. Thus we can produce, by exercise, and by selection
of the parents, a dog, whose cranium shall be small and flat,
corresponding with the elongation of the muzzle, and who
shall possess different propensities from another, whose brain
being rounder, is larger, and who is enabled to exercise facul-
ties for our preservation and defence, which we cannot dis-
tinguish from reason.

The Hog, we have seen, communicates to his posterity,
along with his change of form, instincts and habits as diffe-
rent from those existing in the natural state as if he had be-
come a new species. From being a nocturnal animal, he has
acquired a desire to seek his food during the day, and, from
being solitary, he has become social, so that the male never,
in a state of the utmost liberty we allow him, separates from
his fellows of the herd. The subjugated birds convey to
their descendants a new set of habitudes and propensities :
they lose the once irresistible desire to retire in single pairs,
and bring up the young apart, and become entirely polyga-
mous. The greyhound, whose nose is small, and his body
fitted for rapid motion, conveys, with the conformation of
his organs, the desire of capturing his prey by speed alone.
A puppy greyhound will, the first time he springs a covey of
partridges, dash after them at speed; while the young pointer,
with the great development which has been communicated to
his nasal organ, will stand as if entranced, nay, if of a highly
cultivated breed, will couch upon the ground like the parents

Ixvi INTRODUCTION.

who had been disciplined to the act. The young terrier, the
first time he sees a rabbit, will track him to his burrow ; the
young water-spaniel will strive to seize the objects which he
sees floating in the stream, though he has never before be-
held a rivulet ; the young bull-dog will fly at the throat of
the first animal that assails him. The race-horse, to whom
we have communicated the conformation which suits him for
rapid motion, will manifest the fiery spirit proper to him, by
his mother's side, a few hours after birth. The Arabian
horse, with his broad and high forehead, indicating a larger
development of the brain, manifests a far superior sagacity
to the humbler horse of inferior lineage. Of the breeds of
the domestic sheep, some are acclimated in countries of heaths
and mountains, and some in the richer plains. Each has
acquired the conformation which suits him to these condi-
tions. If we take the mountain-lamb from its mother's teat
at the very birth, and bring it to the valley below, we shall
find it still, when grown to maturity, prefer the smaller
grasses, the wild thyme, and other plants of mountains, to
the richer herbage, and betake itself to the arid eminences
of its pasture-fields in preference to the sheltered hollows,
and communicate these desires to its offspring. Are not
such propensities as these mental, and the result of a con-
formation of the animal organs, and consequently transmis-
sive from the parents to the young ? Thus, habits acquired
may assuredly be communicated from animal to animal. We
cannot indeed suppose that a young puppy would turn a spit,
or dance to a tune, because its parents had been taught to
do so, but we can suppose that if a race of dogs had been
compelled, from generation to generation, to dance and turn
spits, they would acquire the conformation which would suit
them to perform these offices ; which would be nothing more
than one of innumerable examples of the progressive adap-
tation of the form of animals to the uses to which they are
habituated.

Even mutilation of the body may, in certain cases, produce

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. Ixvii

partial changes of conformation, which, being communicated,
become permanent characters. If one organ is injured or
removed, a provision is frequently made to compensate the
loss. In some parts of Scotland it appears to have become
a practice to scoop out the horns of young cattle, on the sup-
position that the animals would become more quiet, and less
apt to attack or gore one another. It would appear that the
system of the animal tended to repair this injury by a larger
development of the bony ridge of the forehead, from which
the osseous nuclei of the horns proceed ; and that this pro-
cess, carried on from generation to generation, became at
length a character, so that a hornless breed was produced.
There is a race of shepherds' dogs in this country, in which
it appears it had become a fashion to shorten the tails of
the animals. Now, a diminution of the caudal vertebrae may
produce a modification of the sacral in contact with them,
and thus a peculiar conformation be communicated to the
animals, which may become permanent by successive repro-
duction. Whether this be the origin of the peculiarity of
the race of dogs in question, cannot be determined ; but it
is known, that when, from any cause, dogs are born destitute
of tails, the peculiarity may be communicated to their de-
scendants, and become permanent.*

Characters, then, of form, and of habits and instincts the
results of form, may be communicated from animals to their
progeny, and form Varieties, Races, or Breeds. We distin-
guish a species from a variety by this, that in the species
we regard the modification of a higher or more general type,
namely, of a genus, tribe, or family ; in the variety, the modi-
fication of a lower or less general type, namely, of a species.
But the variety is likewise the modification of the more gene-

* There is an authentic record, quoted by Dr James Anderson, of a cat
which was accidentally deprived of its tail when young. The kittens of this
animal were born without tails, which character their descendants retained as
long as they were kept free from intermixture with other breeds ; and in the
Isle of Man, at this day, all the native cats have the tails short or rudimental.

Ixviii INTRODUCTION.

ral type, and there is, thus far, no distinction between the va-
riety and the species. It may be said, indeed, that the charac-
ters of the species are more lasting than those of the varie-
ty : but, unless we are to assume that the forms of animals are
immutable, this is a difference in degree and not in kind ;
and a variety, therefore, does not differ in kind from a spe-
cies. It may readily be supposed, then, that with respect to
certain animals, questions may arise, whether they be species
or varieties. But if the only real difference between a spe-
cies and variety be, that the characters of the one are more
lasting than those of the other, innumerable cases must pre-
sent themselves, in which we cannot determine whether a
given animal be what we call a species or a variety. Yet
eager debates are continually carried on by naturalists whe-
ther certain animals are to be regarded as species, or as
varieties. Thus, the Common Wolf of America differs some-
what in aspect from the Wolf of Europe, and some natu-
ralists hold that he is specifically distinct ; but all that we
can truly say is, that the wolf of Europe and the wolf of
America present varieties of that form which we term Wolf,
and our knowledge of the animal conducts us no further.
The Domesticated Dogs present greater varieties of form
and characters than many animals which are considered
to be specifically different. The question has arisen whe-
ther these dogs are of different species or of one species?
The resolution of the question, it is manifest, depends mainly
upon the meaning which we assign to our own terms. If we
are to include, under the same specific form, the long muzzle
and slender limbs of the Greyhound, and the short muzzle
and stout limbs of the Bull-dog, then the Greyhound and the
Bull-dog are of one species ; if we hold that the elongated
muzzle and slender limbs of the one constitute a specific dis-
tinction, then the Greyhound and the Bull-dog are of different
species according to our definition.

But a species, it has been supposed, difl'ers from a variety
in this, that while animals of different species will not breed

DIVISIONS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. Ixix

together and produce a fruitful progeny, varieties of the
same species will breed together, and produce a fruitful pro-
geny. We shall be able, perhaps, in the sequel, to shew the
fallacy of this rule, as it is applied to many animals. It is
true that observation shews that animals which diverge from
one another beyond certain limits do not breed together, or,
breeding together, do not produce a fruitful progeny ; but it
is equally true, that animals may diverge from one another
beyond the limits of forms which we call specific, and yet
breed together. Many examples of this occur in the case of
the gallinaceous fowls which we rear in poultry-yards, and
of the little singing-birds brought up in cages ; and in the
case of fishes, experiments, from the facility of fecundifying
the sperm, are easily made to shew that not only animals
so divergent as species, so called, but as genera, may be
made to produce a fertile progeny. The Sheep and the Goat
breed together, and produce a progeny as fruitful as the pa-
rents ; yet the sheep and the goat are held to be distinct ge-
nera. They are distinct genera, indeed, according to our
classification, but it appears, from the effect, that they do
not diverge so much from one another in those characters
which enable animals to breed together, as to be incapable
of producing a common race ; and so it will be seen, in the
sequel, it is with other animals reduced to the state of do-
mestication. In the natural state, indeed, unions of this,
kind rarely take place, a provision having been apparently
made against their occurrence, in the habits and instincts of
the animals themselves. Species in the state of nature will
very rarely intermix ; and even varieties, produced by arti-
ficial breeding, tend to preserve themselves unmixed, when
in a state of liberty. If a flock of Merino Sheep, consisting
of rams and ewes, be mixed together in the same field with
a similar flock of the Heath Sheep of Scotland, there will be
na mixture between them, the females of each selecting the
rams of its own variety. In Wales, there are two vai^eties
of Sheep, one of which inhabits the higher mountains, and

Ixx INTRODUCTION.

the other a lower range ; yet these sheep, though mingled in
the commons of the country for ages, preserve themselves
distinct ; and even the female of the Dog, if left free to
choose her mate, will almost always make the selection of
one of her own kind, a greyhound of a greyhound, a terrier
of a terrier, and so on. Were not some natural provision of
this kind made, we might expect to meet innumerable hy-
bridal animals in the state of nature ; for there can be no
reasonable doubt that many animals which we call distinct
species, are capable of breeding together, and producing a
fruitful offspring.

II.— PROPERTIES OF EXTERNAL FORM.

The characters, in animals, of external form, may be com-
municated, it has been seen, from the parents to the young ;
and upon the constancy of this effect may be said to be
founded the whole principle of what is termed Breeding,
whether pursued to the degree of forming distinct varieties,
or of merely communicating to individuals the peculiar cha-
racters which we desire them to possess. If we would form
a variety or breed, we must select the animals possessed of
the characters sought for, and, by breeding from the progeny,
endeavour to give permanence to the characters acquired.
If we wish to procure individual Horses possessing the fa-
culty of speed, we unite in blood those which possess, in the
requisite degree, the form and properties which we seek to
reproduce in the progeny ; if we design to procure Horses
having the strength fitted for labour, and the exertion of their
powers in draught, we select the males and the females whose
external form indicates their adaptation to the uses required ;
if we are to propagate animals for the production of muscle
and fat, we choose for the parents those whose conformation
indicates the faculty of soon arriving at maturity, and readily
assimilating nourishment.

EXTERNAL FORM. ]xxi

Of the domesticated animals, that whose form and proper-
ties have excited the greatest observation and interest, is
the Horse, whether designed for the exercise of the powers
of speed, for the bearing of burdens and drawing of loads, or
tor any other use to which he is adapted.

In the Horse, as in all the mammiferous animals, there is
the long chain of distinct bones termed vertebrae, which,
bound together by joints, cartilage, and ligaments, consti-
tute the vertebral or spinal column. Each vertebra has a
perforation through it, so that, when the whole vertebrae are
connected together, there is a continued canal passing along
the interior. Besides the perforation for forming this canal,
each vertebra has exterior projections, two lateral, termed
transverse processes, and one upwards, termed the spinous
process, the latter forming that sharp elevation of bones
which commences with the withers, and extends along the
back. At the anterior termination of the spinal column is
the cranium, connected with which are -the jaws and other
bones of the face. The bones of the face consist of two divi-
sions, the first, the lower jaw in one large piece ; the second,
the upper maxillary bones, and various other pieces united
together. In the sockets of the bones of both jaws are in-
serted the teeth. These consist of 6 incisor teeth in each
jaw, that is, of 12 incisors, or, as they are called, nippers ; of
2 canine teeth or tusks in each jaw, one on each side of the
incisors, that is, of 4 canine teeth ; and next to these, and
at a distance from them, of 6 molar or grinding teeth on both
sides of each jaw, that is, of 24 molar teeth in all. The dis-
position of the teeth, the organs of mastication, may be re-
presented thus :

Molar. Canine. Incisor. Canine. Molar.

Upper jaw, .6 1 6 1 6

Under jaw, .6 1 6 1 6 '

in all 40 teeth, the canine teeth being generally wanting in
the female.

The cranium is composed of ten distinct pieces, namely,
the two frontal bones which form the forehead, the temporal

Ixxii

INTRODUCTION.

bones which lodge the internal organs of hearing, and others.
It forms a cavity separated from the chambers of the nose,
the eyes, and the mouth. Contained within it, and filling it,
is the Brain, the substance of which passes along the whole
vertebral column, and terminates in the upper vertebrae of
the tail, so that the spinal cord is a prolongation of the
nervous matter of the brain. Proceeding from the brain and
spinal cord, pass to the organs of the special senses, and to
every sensible part of the body, the fine cords termed Nerves,
made up of minute tubular filaments, each of which filaments
is finer than the spider's thread, and separately invisible to
the unassisted eye.

Next to the cranium are the cervical vertebrae, or bones of
the neck, in number 7 ; next to these are the dorsal vertebrae,
or bones of the back, 18 in number ; next are the lumbar ver-
tebrae, or bones of the loins, 5 or 6 in number ; next is the sa-
crum, so called, consisting of 5 vertebrae united together, and
forming a single piece ; and last are the caudal vertebras, or
bones of the tail, varying in number from 13 to 18.

In the following figure, 1 is the lower jaw, 2, 3, 4. 5, are

Fin. 1.

the oth

EXTERNAL FORM. Ixxiii

the other bones of the face, b b the cervical vertebrae, c c the
dorsal vertebrae, d d the lumbar vertebrae, e e the sacral ver-
tebrae united into one piece, and / is the caudal vertebrae or
bones of the tail.

With the vertebral column are connected, (1.) the ribs Hi;
(2.) the scapula or shoulder-blade^; (3.) the bones of the pel-
vis p. With the shoulder-blade are connected the fore-limbs,
consisting, (1.) of the humerus or great bone of the shoulder
k; (2.) the fore-arm I m, of which m is the elbow ; (3.) of the
bones of the carpus or knee n ; (4.) of the cannon-bone or
shank o ; and (5.) of the bones of the pastern and foot 6.
^Vith the pelvis, p, are connected the bones of the posterior
limbs, namely, (1.) the femur or great bone of the thigh q ;
(2.) the patella or stifle-bone r ; (3.) the tibia or great. btfne
of the leg s ; (4.) the bones of the hock t ; (5.) the cannon-
bone u ; (6.) the bones of the pastern and foot 6.

It is from the dorsal vertebrae, or bones of the back, that
the ribs proceed, forming hoops which enclose the chest and
a part of the abdomen. The number of dorsal vertebrae, and,
consequently, of ribs on each side, is eighteen, but sometimes
one, or even two more are developed. The ribs are mostly
connected by cartilaginous bands with the scapula or breast-
bone, of which the upper termination, h, appears in the figure.
The breast-bone, flat and of a spongy consistence, is formed
of several pieces united together, and is sometimes likened,
from its form, to the keel of a ship. The chest contains the
lungs and heart, and is separated by a muscular partition
from the abdomen, which contains the liver, the stomach,
the intestinal canal, the kidneys, and other organs.

The shoulder-blade or scapula g, of which there is one on
each side of the chest, is a flat triangular bone, with its nar-
row end pointing obliquely downwards. It is attached to
the chest by intervening muscles, and strengthened in its
position by other powerful muscles with which it is con-
nected.

Into a shallow cavity at the lower part of this bone, is in-

Ixxiv INTRODUCTION.

serted the humerus or bone of the shoulder. The humerus
corresponds with the bone of the same name in man, that is,
with the portion of the human arm which is between the
elbow and shoulder, but is so covered with muscles in the
horse, as to seem to form a part of the trunk. It is bent
downwards and backwards in a direction opposite to that of
the shoulder-blade, by which disposition the parts act like a
spring to lessen the effects of those terrible shocks which
they sustain, when, the animal being raised from the ground,
his weight is received upon his fore extremities. The head
of the humerus working in a very shallow cavity in the shoul-
der-blade, the bone has great freedom of motion. Its lower
extremity is fitted by a hinge-like joint into the next in
order of the bones of the limb, namely, the bone of the fore-
arm.

The bone of the fore-arm corresponds with that portion of
the human arm which is between the elbow and the wrist,
but the fore-arm, in the human subject, consists of two bones,
termed respectively radius and ulna. In the horse, there
were likewise two bones in the young state, but they became
joined together ; though the ulnar portion, as in the figure,
is still to be distinguished projecting behind the upper part
of the fore-arm, and receiving the name elbow in the horse
as in man. To the elbow are attached powerful muscles,
for extending the limb ; and its size is one of the points
looked to by jockeys, as indicative of what is termed action.

The part termed the knee in the horse corresponds with
the wrist of the human arm, and is for this reason termed
carpus. It is composed of seven, and sometimes of eight,
small bones. These bones serve for the attachment of
muscles, and for giving flexibility to the joint. By being
many, the weight is divided amongst them, and thus the ha-
zard of fracture or dislocation is lessened. They are sepa-
rated by elastic cartilage, bound firmly together by ligaments,
and kept constantly lubricated by a secreted liquid. They
form an exceedingly strong and perfect joint, scarcely subject

to rli&lru

EXTERNAL FORM.

Ixxv

Fig. 2.

to dislocation of parts, although, being the farthest removed
from both extremities of the limb, they are at the part of it
most apt to be injured.

The next bones form what is termed the fore-leg of the
horse, which consists of three bones, namely, the large can-
non-bone, or shank, with the two smaller splint-bones, as
they are called, behind. The splint-bones extend downwards
for about two-third parts of the length of the principal bone,
with which they are united by a ligamentous matter. This
matter tends to become bone, and the ossification extending
beyond the point of union of the bones, there is formed the
bony tumour so common in the horse, Splint.

The last of the series of bones of the
limbs are those of the pastern and foot.
The uppermost of these, the upper pas-
tern, is jointed to the lower part of the
cannon-bone. Inferiorly it is jointed to
the lower pastern, or coronet-bone ; and
the coronet-bone, again, is articulated
with the coffin-bone, which is of a soft
and spongy nature, and inclosed within
the horny covering of the hoof. These
several bones of the limb are more dis-
tinctly represented in the accompanying
figure, where s is the lower part of the
shoulder-blade, h the humerus, work-
ing, by its rounded head, into the socket
of the scapula, / the fore-arm, e the
elbow, c the carpus or knee, o the can-
non-bone, or shank, with its splint-bones
behind /, p the upper pastern, q the
lower pastern, or coronet-bone, r the
coffin-bone, x the hoof.

Besides the bones enumerated, there
are small bones, y, v, placed behind the
others, and acting somewhat in the manner of pulleys.

Ixxvi

INTRODUCTION.

namely, (1.) the sesamoid bones, g, behind the joint commonly
termed the fetlock ; and, (2.) the navicular bone, #, placed
behind the common Joint of the coronet and coffin bones.
Over these small bones pass, from the cannon-bone, a liga-
ment and tendons, which, being connected with the bones
of the foot, give surpassing elasticity combined with strength,

Fig. 3.

to these parts. In the an-
nexed section of the foot, L
is the ligament, T the ten-
dons, and N the navicular
bone. The hoof, by which
the foot is covered, is of a
substance tough and elastic
in an eminent degree.

Directing attention to the
hinder part of the vertebral
column, Fig. 1, there is the
pelvis, p, formed by two large
bones, one on each side of

the spine, and firmly united to it. The upper part of each
pelvic bone, termed the ilium, forms the haunch-bone, or
hip-bone ; and into a cavity in the lower part of the same
bone is inserted the round head of the first of the bones of
the posterior limbs, namely, the femur, q, or great bone of
the thigh. The femur is not vertical, like the thigh-bone in
man, but it has an oblique direction from behind forward.
It corresponds with the thigh-bone in man, but being covered,
in the horse, with the thick muscles employed in moving it,
it appears to be a part of the trunk. The size of this bone
is connected, in an important degree, with the power of pro-
gression of the animal ; for, being extended backwards by
the action of the muscles, while the foot remains fixed, it
forces the body forward.

In front of the lower extremity of the femur is the patella,
or stifle-bone, r, which corresponds with the pan of the knee
in man. It is one of the class of bones termed sesamoid, and

EXTERNAL FORM.

Ixxvii

is designed for the attachment, and passing over it, of ten-
dons of muscles.

Jointed to the lower part of the femur is the tibia, or great
bone of the leg, connected with which, by ligamentous mat-
ter, is the small bone termed the fibula. These two bones
form properly the leg of the horse ; but they are, in popular
language, termed the thigh, although they correspond, not
with the bone of the thigh in the human species, but with the
leg.

Next to these bones are those of the hock, which corre-
spond with the bones of the ankle or instep in man ; and on
one of them the tibia works by means of a hinge joint. They
are six in number, and one of them, corresponding with the

Fig. 4.

great bone of the heel in man, pro-
jects backwards, and has powerful
muscles for extending the limb in-
serted into its extremity, so that it
acts as a strong lever in aiding the
forward motion of the animal ; and,
as in the fore extremities we look to
the size of the elbow as a point to
be regarded, so, in the posterior
limbs, we look to the size of the
bone of the heel.

The next bones below correspond
entirely with those of the fore extre-
mity. They are, (1.) the cannon-
bone, or shank, with the two splint-
bones attached ; (2.) the pastern ;
(3.) the coronet bone ; (4.) the cof-
fin bone, with the sesamoid and na-
vicular bones, as in the fore extre-
mities. These several bones of the
hinder limb are represented in the
annexed figure, where pp are a part
of one of the pelvic bones, q the femur, r the stifle bone,

Ixxviii

INTRODUCTION.

/ the leg, formed of the two bones tibia and fibula, h the
hock, whereof c is the bone of the heel, u the cannon-bone,
with its splint bones g,f the upper pastern, d the lower pas-
tern, e the coffin bone, t the sesamoid bones, v the navicular
bone, x the hoof.

This chain of bones being extended, performs the functions
of a lever in moving forward the body, the foot fixed to the
ground being the fulcrum. In like manner, the other move-
ments of the animal are performed by the flexure and exten-
sion of the bones, thus — -

==«?:

It is by means of the muscular forces that all the flexure
of the bones, and movements of the other parts, are performed.
The muscles constitute the greater part of all the solid matter
of the body, forming the flesh of the animal, and entering
into the composition of vessels, ducts, and sacs within the

EXTERNAL FOKM.

Ixxix

body. They are possessed of the property of contracting
under the influence of the will, and often independently of
it, and, by this contraction, of producing motion in the parts
with which they are connected ; and all the movements of
animals, from the smallest inflexion of the voice to the most
extended motions of the limbs, are produced by the contrac-
tile power of these organs. When they are to give motion
to bones, the fleshy part terminates in tendons, which are
attached like ropes or cords to the parts to be moved. The
muscles of the horse, as of other animals, may be divided
into classes, according to the functions which they have to
perform, or the parts of the body to which they pertain.*

Fig. 6.

The muscles belonging to the head are numerous. They

The figure represents the principal external muscles, namely,
a Dilatator Naris Lateralis.
b ^ Nasalis Longus Labii Superioris.
c c Levator Labii Superioris Alaeque Xasi.

Ixxx INTRODUCTION.

are thin on the external parts of the face and cranium, so
that the head of the animal may be said to be nearly of the

form indicated by the bones which compose it.

d Orbicularis Oris.

e Levator Menti.

/ Zygomaticus.

fj Depressor Labii Inferioris.

h Masseter.

/ Orbicularis Palpebrarum.

k Levator Palpebrae Superioris.

I Attollentes et Adducentes I Aurem

/ Retrahentes et Abducentes j

M Sterno-Maxillaris.

n Subscapulo-Hyoideus.

o Levator Humeri.

p Trapezius.

q Complexus Major.

r Splenius.

s and e e Serratus Magnus.

t Pectoralis Magnus.

u Latissimus Dorsi.

( Obliquus Externus Abdominis (rolled up to shew the
1 muscle beneath).

w Obliquus Internus Abdominis.

x x Gluteus Externus.

z z Gluteus Maximus.

b' b' Adductor Tibialis.

c' c' c' Biceps Abductor Femoris.

d' d' Vastus Externus.

/' Antea-Spinatus.

g' Postea-Spinatus.

A" Teres Minor.

i' Pectoralis Parvus.

k' I' m Triceps Extensor Brachii.

n Flexor Brachii.

o' Extensor Metacarpi Magnus.

p Extensor Pedis.

q Flexor Metacarpi Externus.

r Extensor Suffraginis.

*, *, 1 Lumbrici, Anterior et Posterior.

t' Extensor Pedis.

u Peroneus.

v Gastrocnemius Externus.

w' Plantaris.

x Flexor Pedis,

?/' Extensor Metacarpi Obliquus vel Parvus.

y Flexor Pedis Accessorius.

EXTERNAL FORM. . Ixxxi

The movements of the external ear are effected by a set of
small muscles in contact with them on the upper part of the
head. By their means the external ear is erected, depressed,
or rotated, so that it may collect the sounds as they come
from different points ; and the spirit and temper of the ani-
mal may frequently be judged of by the movements of these
organs.

Various muscles are employed in the movement of the eyes
and eyelids. Some of them are within the sockets, and vary
the position of the globe, so as to suit the relative position
of external objects.

A set of muscles are connected with the movements of
the jaws, the mouth, and the nostrils. These cover the
maxillary bones, form the cheeks, and, stretching to a circu-
lar muscle which surrounds the mouth, form the lips. By
means of these muscles the jaws are moved upon one another
with great force, the nostrils are dilated to admit the air into
the trachea, and the varied movements of the lips are pro-
duced. In the horse of high breeding the nostrils are dilated,
and the muzzle is delicate.

Another numerous class of muscles, which are internal,
are connected with the varied movements of the tongue.
They produce the actions connected with deglutition, and the
inflexions of the voice.

The bones of the neck are enveloped in a vast mass of
muscles, subservient to the numerous motions of the head
and neck. They stretch from the head to the chest, and their
expansion therefore indicates power of the fore-extremities/

The chest and abdomen are covered with muscles, several
of them flat, and expanded over a large surface. Some lie
beneath the shoulder-blade, and are otherwise connected with
it, retaining it in its place, and, aided by several muscles of
the neck, producing those changes of position which are re-
quired by the motions of the fore -limbs. Along the back
extend very powerful muscles, producing the necessary flexure
of the back ; and some pass along the inner side of the ver-

Ixxxii INTRODUCTION.

tebral column, acting upon the pelvis and thighs ; and a
set extending backwards cause the motions of the tail and
other parts. The ribs are connected together, and moved,
by numerous muscles passing between them ; and the abdo-
men is covered by flat tendinous muscles, which support
the contained viscera. The diaphragm, extending within
the trunk from the spine to the breast-bone, separates the
cavities of the chest and abdomen. The hinder extremities,
which are the main instruments of progression, are moved
by muscles of prodigious force, connected with the spine,
sacrum, and bones, of the pelvis, giving motion to the thigh
and leg. One set is employed in bending the limb under
the body, another in extending it backwards. The muscles
which extend downward to move the lower part of the limb,
becpme tendinous as they descend, until, having reached the
hock, they are almost wholly tendinous. By this mechanism
the various pieces of the limb are either flexed or extended,
without loading with muscle the parts to be pulled.

The fore extremities are moved by a series of muscles at-
tached to the shoulder-blade, and by others, extending from
the higher parts of the limb downwards. These last, like
the muscles of the hinder extremity, become tendinous down-
wards, until, at and below the knee, they are almost wholly
tendinous. They are distinguished into those which extend
the humerus and other pieces of the limb forwards, and
those which bend them backwards. The parts of the limb
being extended, and at the same time bent, the limbs clear
the ground, when the animal is propelled forwards. In
order that they may be raised sufficiently to clear the ground,
and move in harmony with the hinder limbs, there must be
a peculiar adaptation of parts, and fitting strength of muscle.
The due performance of these functions constitutes chiefly
what is termed action in the horse, and we judge essentially
of his safety and usefulness from the form and movements
of his fore-extremities.

The horse, when we regard him in profile, is compre-

EXTERNAL FORM.

Ixxxiii

hended, abstracting from the neck and head, within a square,
the limbs occupying somewhat more than one-half.

Fig. 7.

Were the limbs to occupy too large a proportion of the
square, the horse might be full of mettle, and possessed of
great power of speed, but he would be wanting in the power
of endurance necessary to suit him for useful services. A
certain depth of chest and body is required in every horse
from which we look for continued labour. This is essential
in the horse of heavy draught, the hackney, the ordinary
saddle-horse, and the hunter. A horse having this conforma-
tion is said to be short-legged. A length of the limbs dis-
proportionate to the depth of chest and trunk, is only admis-
sible in the case of the race-horse, in which the property of
speed is alone regarded. In an ordinary horse, the charac-
ter of too long legs is universally regarded as a defect. Such
a horse, whatever spirit he may possess, is easily tired, and,
after ^severe exercise, is frequently unable to take his food.
He is subject to be purged often by a draught of cold water,

Ixxxiv INTRODUCTION.

or a quick gallop. Such horses are familiarly said to be
light in the carcass, to stand high in the legs, and so forth.

A section of the chest of the horse, at its commencement
at the breast, approaches to an oval form, and, proceeding
from the first rib backwards, it enlarges in capacity in both
directions. This progressive enlargement should go on to
behind the shoulders, where the depth, and consequently the
girth, should be relatively large. This conformation shews
that there is due space for the action of the respiratory or-
gans ; and, it may be said, that no horse will be found pos-
sessed of health and endurance without a sufficient depth of
chest.

But an enlargement of the chest may take place by means
of increase in width as well as in depth When, how-
ever, the chest approaches too much to the circular at the
breast and shoulders, it deviates from the form adapted to
speed and action. A cart-horse may possess a circular
breast, and this class of horses have always more or less of
this character ; but we desire to see the chest deep as well
as broad. If the breast be very wide, the fore-limbs will be
placed far asunder. But this is a disposition of parts which,
though fitted for physical force, is not so for speed, and the
power of active motion. Independently of the too great
weight before the limbs, which renders the horse too heavy
before, the further evil results, that a straddling motion is
communicated to the animal in the gallop, which is alto-
gether unfavourable to the exeVcise of this movement. The
fore-limbs, therefore, must not be too far asunder, by the ex-
tension of the chest in width at the breast. In other quad-
rupeds possessed of great powers of speed, we invariably
find that the fore-limbs are somewhat close together, as in
the case of the greyhound as compared with the mastiff
amongst dogs, and in the case of the deer as compared
with the sheep amongst ruminating animals ; but yet a
certain lateral expansion of chest is connected with physi-

EXTERNAL FORM. Ixxxv

cal strength, health, and the property of readily assimilating
nourishment. In the case of the horse employed entirely in
slow labour, the possession of a round wide breast is not only
of no detriment, but it is a property to be desired. A cer-
tain width of breast is desirable, but in a less degree, in
the hackney and common saddle-horse, in which the power
of speed is held to be secondary to other properties. In
the hunter it should exist to a medium extent, and it is
only in the race-horse that we can afford to regard it as
a secondary property ; yet even in the race-horse, although
too great a width of breast is to be deprecated as utterly
imsuited to his destination, we still desire to see the chest
expand gradually to behind the shoulders, so that its capa-
city shall be sufficient for the action of the respiratory organs.

The ribs, rising from the vertebrae of the back, increase in
length until the ninth, and in curvature to the last, so that
the body gradually passes from the elliptical form, and be-
comes nearly circular. The ribs should possess the proper
degree of curvature, so that the sides shall not be flat, and
the body narrow. A horse having the body narrow is said to
be flat- sided, and has frequently the belly pendent, because the
abdominal viscera have not sufficient space laterally. Such
a horse never possesses endurance, and rarely good action.

The head of the horse should be symmetrical, and rather
small than large, a large head not conducing to any pur-
poses of active motion, and frequently indicating sluggish-
ness of temper, and coarseness in other parts. Yet the
mere difference in the size of heads of horses of the same
race is not a very important character, and, other points
being good, may be disregarded. A certain breadth and
height of forehead, however, indicates the horse of high
breeding, and may be supposed to be connected with greater
sagacity and spirit.

The ears should be free from coarseness. The spirit of
the animal is judged of by these parts being pointed, and

Ixxxvi INTRODUCTION.

frequently erect. He manifests momentary irritation, or ha-
bitual ill temper, by retracting them firmly backwards ; but
often this is done in play, or when he is tickled in the skin.
The ears of certain horses hang habitually down, as if the
muscles wanted power to sustain them. Such horses are
termed "lob-eared." They are sometimes good and endur-
ing ; but, for the most part, the character indicates a slug-
gish temperament.

The eyelids should be thin, and the eyes large, and some-
what prominent, as expressive of vigour and spirit. When
the eyes are sunk in the sockets, and the surrounding muscles
are thick, the horse is said to be " pig-eyed." When the
horse is apt to shew much of the white of the eye, his tem-
per may be suspected; though, in some cases, the white or
sclerotic portion is large in proportion to the coloured or
corneous, and then its habitual appearance does not neces-
sarily indicate badness of temper.

The profile of the face should be nearly straight. When
it is concave, there is often a defect of temper ; when con-
vex, the animal is usually good-tempered, and may possess
useful properties. But yet the latter conformation is not of
itself to be desired. A horse possessing it is familiarly said
to be " Roman-nosed." Many excellent horses possess this
character, which is, therefore, to be regarded as trivial, when
the other points are good.

The nostrils should be expansive, and not thick and nar-
row. The horse breathes through the nostrils, and the power
of expanding these cavities is connected with his power of
filling the lungs with air, and, consequently, with the pro-
perty of speed. All horses having the power of rapid motion
have expanded nostrils ; and there is, perhaps, no example
of narrow nostrils in combination with the property of rapid
progression. The lips should be thin, and the mouth exter-
nally of some depth, characters which render the horse sen-
sible to the guidance of the rein ; whereas thick, short, and

EXTERNAL FORM. Ixxxvii

arse lips, indicate a dulness of feeling in the parts, and
are only tolerable in the horse employed in labour.

The muscles which cover the face should be distinctly
marked, and not loaded with integument and fat : The su-
perficial bloodvessels should be distinct, and somewhat pro-
minent.

The windpipe should be prominent and large. The bones
of the lower jaw should be thin, and the branches between
which the windpipe passes should be sufficiently wide ; for,
otherwise, the horse will be incommoded when reined up,
and will be apt, accordingly, to bore upon the hand.

The neck should be of medium symmetrical length. A
too great length of neck unnecessarily loads the fore-extre-
mities, while a too short one renders the horse unapt to the
guidance of the rein, incapable of easy flexure of the body,
ungraceful, slow, and often unsafe. All horses possessed of
much speed have the neck somewhat long ; and, comparing
the two kinds of conformation, it is better that the neck
shall approach to the extreme of length than of shortness.

The bones of the neck are covered by powerful muscles
connected with the motions of the head and fore-arm. Pro-
ceeding from the head, the muscles should progressively in-
crease in volume to the breast, where a want of muscular ex-
pansion indicates a want of action. The upper part of the
neck, formed of the splenius and other muscles, frequently
termed the crest, should be sufficiently, but not excessively,
developed. Considerable elevation of the crest is connected
with high and powerful action ; but its excessive expansion
has relation to vigour of the fore extremities rather than to
speed, and hence, in the race-horse, the crest is compara-
tively thin. But the character is not inconsistent with the
power of rapid motion. The Flying Childers, one of the
fleetest horses that ever was upon the English turf, had the
crest remarkably large.

The neck should be somewhat arched or convex, a charac-

Ixxxviii INTRODUCTION.

ter depending, in part, upon the obliquity of the shoulder ;
but when mere speed is regarded, the neck may be straight,
or even concave above. The latter conformation forms what
is termed the " ewe-neck." It renders the horse unapt to
the guidance of the rein, uneasy to the rider, and unsafe ;
but may exist in the class of horses in which speed alone is
sought for. Many excellent race-horses have exhibited this
conformation, which is that likewise of the deer and other
swift-footed ruminants.

The back consists of the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, with
the powerful muscles covering the parts. It commences
with the elevated ridge formed by the spinous processes of
the first dorsal vertebrae, termed withers, and familiarly
known as the part between the pommel of the saddle and the
termination of the mane. Elevation of withers is connected
with the vigorous movement of the fore-extremities, and is,
consequently, indicative of action. All jockeys look to the
height of the shoulder, which is indicated by the elevation
of the withers, as a point connected with usefulness and
safety in the saddle-horse ; and dealers, accordingly, usually
seek to exaggerate the height of the horse before, by placing
him, when he is to be examined, with his fore-feet on the
higher ground. Great elevation of the withers, however, is
more connected with good action than extreme speed ; and
in the race-horse it is regarded as a secondary character.
A great proportion of the horses distinguished on the turf
have the withers of moderate height. In Eclipse, whose
form has been minutely scrutinized, the withers were very
low ; and the same conformation is observed in other species
of animals fitted for great speed. But although the power
of speed is connected with another class of properties than
elevation of the withers, yet the latter character is never to
be disregarded, when we look to utility and safety in the
saddle-horse. It gives not only grace to the animal, but a
sense of ease and security to the rider. When the withers

EXTERNAL FORM. Ixxxix

are low, the saddle bears upon the shoulder, and the rider
neither feels nor possesses that security which the elevated
shoulder gives. The horse of this form, however suited for
direct progression, is rarely well adapted to quick turnings,
and the other movements which we seek to communicate by
education. The want of space for the attachment of the
muscles of the neck, if compensated at all, must be so by an
enlargement of the muscles themselves, which renders the
shoulders thick, and what is called " cloddy." Cloddy shoul-
ders, indeed, are not inconsistent with good properties in the
saddle-horse ; but the far greater presumption is, that they
will have the effect of rendering him heavy before, unplea-
sant to the rider, and unsafe. They are not even absolutely
inconsistent with great speed, though their existence is ad-
verse to the expectation of this character. In Eclipse, the
shoulder was cloddy in a remarkable degree, but this proves
only that one defect may be counterbalanced by great excel-
lencies, as was the case in this remarkable horse, whose obli-
quity of shoulder, and vast expansion of the posterior extre-
mities, were sufficient to produce his surpassing powers of
progression, without our being allowed to infer that those
powers would have been less, had the spinous processes been
increased, and the muscular substance attached to them di-
minished.

The dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, with the muscles cover-
ing them, form the back. Debates have sometimes taken
place regarding the proper length of this part. But the pro-
portion of this, as of other parts of the frame, is not subject
to any definite rule. A short back, like a short rod, is more
strong than one of the same substance which is extended in
length. A short back, in the horse, indicates strength and
capability of bearing the burden of the rider. Further, it
indicates hardiness of constitution, the power of supporting
fatigue, and the property of subsisting on a small quantity
of food. When we seek, then, for a horse, as the road-horse

XC INTRODUCTION.

and hackney, in which strength and endurance of long fatigue
are regarded as essential properties, a short back, like short
limbs, indicates that the animal is suited to our purposes.
But a horse whose back is short, is less easy in its paces,
shorter in its step, and slower in its motions, than one which
has a longer back ; and when we regard speed, a certain
length of back is necessary to suit the longer stride which
rapid progression demands. The property of shortness of
back, therefore, is disregarded in the race-horse ; but we
may say that a medium length of back, tending to the short,
is to be desired in horses where a reasonable degree of speed
is to be combined with strength, that is, in all ordinary
horses employed for the saddle, not excepting the hunter,
and even, though in a less degree, in the horse employed in
the lighter vehicles in harness. In a horse whose back is
short, the last of the ribs is brought nearer to the pelvis.
Such a horse is said to be " well-ribbed home," and this
point is looked to by jockeys, as characteristic of hardiness
and good constitution.

The back of the horse sometimes declines considerably
from the withers, forming a concavity or hollow. This form
produces easy motion of the rider, but it is not consistent
with strength and the best position of the parts in other re-
spects. Even when we look for a certain length of back, as
in the horse designed for rapid motion, we should see that it
is straight as an indication of strength. In certain cases,
the back is convex, and not hollow. A horse thus formed is
said to be " roach-backed ;" but when this conformation
exists, the horse is uneasy in all its motions, awkward in his
paces, slow, and unapt to turn, and bend himself to the move-
ments which we seek to communicate by training.

The lumbar portion of the back should be broad, which is
the result of the lateral extension of the transverse pro-
cesses of the lumbar vertebra?. This conformation indicates,
in all cases, strength, is not inconsistent with speed, but con-

EXTERNAL FORM. XC1

ducive to it, and therefore is to be desired in horses of every
kind. One may see well the advantages of this form from
the coach-box of our heavily-loaded public vehicles, where
animals of different conformation are yoked together. While
the narrow-loined horses will be seen to be suffering from
the combined effects of the rapid pace and heavy load, the
broad-loined horses will be observed performing their task
with comparative facility.

With the sacrum commences the part of the horse termed
the haunch or quarter, which extends from the sacrum back-
wards to the tail, and downwards so far as the larger muscles
extend. The upper line of the haunch formed by the sacrum,
and part of the caudal vertebrae, is usually termed the croup.
The croup has a natural convexity, forming a kind of arch.
In certain horses, the croup is much elevated. But this con-
formation is not to be desired : it is a usual accompaniment
of the hollow back, and is less favourable to speed than if
the parts were extended in length rather than in curvature.-
In other cases, in place of an elevation, the croup suddenly
declines to the tail. This conformation is ungraceful, inju-
rious to the breeding-mare by diminishing the size of the
pelvis, and less favourable to progression than a horizontal
extension of the part. In the highly-bred horse, the croup
is so gently curved as to appear nearly straight ; and this is
the form which may be regarded as the most symmetrical
and perfect. In the larger horses employed for labour, the
croup is never so straight as in the horses of superior breed-
ing ; but even in them, it is desirable to see an approach to
the more perfect conformation.

The main indications of the power of progression in the
horse, as in all swift-footed quadrupeds, are afforded by the
posterior extremities, which contain the bones, whose exten-
sion backwards, when the foot is placed on the ground, forces
the animal forward. We look, therefore, as an essential
character in horses of every kind, to the expansion in every
direction of the haunch or quarter, understanding by these

XCll INTRODUCTION.

terms the bones of the pelvis and femur, together with the
muscles which cover or are attached to them.

The upper or iliac portion of the pelvis, commonly termed
the haunch-bone, projects more or less outward. To this
part large muscles are attached, subservient to the move-
ments of the posterior limbs. The haunch-bone should,
therefore, be relatively large, and even an apparent coarse-
ness of it may be tolerated. A horse in which the projection
is so great as to appear uri symmetrical, is said to be " ragged
in the hips." It is not, however, to be desired that the part
shall be ragged, as it is called, but simply that the width of
the haunch, measured over the iliac protuberances of the
pelvis, shall be large, as indicating the lateral expansion of
the haunch.

The pelvis and femur form an angle with one another, and
by the forcible extension of the latter backwards by the
action of the muscles, the main spring is given by which the
body of the animal is urged forward. Hence will appear the
advantage of an increased length of the femur, by which the
means are afforded of giving a large sweep or spring, when
it is extended by the action of the muscles. Further, the
length of the femur is indicated externally by the length of
the haunch, measured from the haunch-bone backwards ; and
hence it is, that length of haunch in this direction is charac-
teristic of the power of progression of the horse. Further,,
as the movements of the posterior limbs must be performed
by muscles of great power, we desire that the muscles of the
haunch shall be of sufficient volume. This, too, is indicated
to the eye by the expansion of the haunch in its different
directions.

In the English race-horse, the character of a large quarter
is developed in a greater degree than in any other known
race of horses. And not in the horse only, but in all swift-
footed quadrupeds, the power of rapid motion has an inti-
mate relation with the expansion of the posterior extremity.
In the greyhound, which is the fleetest of all the races of

EXTERNAL FORM. Cxiii

dogs, the haunch is large and high, as compared with the
shoulder. The same character is seen in the deer and ante-
lope tribes ; and yet more in the hare, an animal whose
swiftness far surpasses that of the horse, the greyhound, or
the antelope, when the relative size of the animals is taken
into account.

Important points in the conformation of the horse are the
form of the limbs, and their disposition with relation to the
parts with which they are connected.

The humerus, it has been seen, works into a shallow cavity
in the scapula ; and, moving forward on this point as a pivot
it describes an arc of a circle, so that the limb is raised above
the ground. To admit of this action being performed with
the required facility, the scapula should have considerable
obliquity, rendering the shoulder what is termed oblique.
Further, the humerus should be relatively short, because its
function being to move in a circle, the same arc will be de-
scribed by a smaller radius as by a larger, and this with less
displacement of the parts. Further, when the humerus is
too long, the breast is placed too far in front of the fore-
limbs, and thus the horse is rendered heavy before.

The next bones of the limb, forming the bones of the fore-
arm, should be somewhat long relatively to the cannon bone
below, for the fore-arm being muscular, while the parts lower
down are tendinous, its length increases the volume, and,
consequently, the power of the muscles subservient to the
movements of the limb. Further, the muscles of the fore-
arm should be well developed down to the carpus or knee.
The elbow or ulnar part of the fore-arm should be long,
so as to be adapted to its function of moving the arm, which
it does in the manner of a lever. A good size of the elbow
is, accordingly, regarded by jockeys as one of the points con-
nected with action in the horse.

The bones of the carpus or knee should be sufficiently large
for the attachment of muscles, so that the knee shall appear
broad when seen from the front.

XC1V INTRODUCTION.

The cannon bone must be of sufficient strength, but its
thickness will vary with race, being greater in the breeds of
larger horses than the more delicate and higher bred, whose
bones are more dense than those of horses of inferior breeding.
When viewed from the side, the limb should appear compara-
tively broad in any kind of horses, indicating the size of the
sesamoid bones behind, and the sufficiency of space for the
tendons and ligaments connected with the pastern and foot.

The pastern, formed of the upper and lower pastern bones,
should be more oblique and long in proportion as the animal
is destined for more rapid movements. In the race-horse
they are peculiarly long and oblique, affording a more yield-
ing spring to the animal when at speed. But a medium
length and inclination only is suited to the horse in which
strength is to be combined with ordinary powers of speed,
as in the saddle -horse and lighter carriage-horse. When the
parts are too short and upright, the animal becomes unsafe
for the saddle, and unsuited for the exercise of even common
speed ; and it is only in the horse employed in slow and
heavy labour that a short and upright pastern is an admis-
sible character.

The hoof should be well formed, and of symmetrical size.
Its colour will depend upon that of the integument, but it is
better that it be dark in colour than light.

On the suitable conformation of the shoulder and fore-
limbs depends the property of what is termed action, which
consists in a ready elevation and flexure of the fore extremi-
ties. This property is less regarded in the race-horse, in
which it is only required to the degree that the horse shall
have the power to clear the level surface over which his
powers of speed are exercised ; but in all the classes of horses
which undergo continued fatigue, and bear the burden of a
rider, good action is an essential property.

In the hinder limbs, which are designed essentially for
progression, is the femur, which, for the reasons before
given, should be relatively long. The tibia or leg proper

EXTERNAL FORM.

XCV

should, for the same reasons, be long with relation to the
part below the hock, and the muscles which cover it should
be well developed. The patella or stifle bone should be of
good size. The hock should be large, indicating an adequate
extent of surface in the bones which compose it. When seen
from the side it should appear to the eye broad, and the os
calcis, or great bone of the heel, should be long, to adapt it
to its function of a lever in extending the limb backwards.
To the cannon bone, the pastern, and the foot, the same re-
marks apply as to those of the fore-extremities.

The aspect of horses must greatly vary with size, and the
conformation acquired either naturally or by artificial breed-
ing. Whatever be the race, those characters should be cul-
tivated in the individual which adapt them to the uses to
which they are especially destined, whether for the course,
the chase, the ordinary uses of the horseman, or the duties
of heavier labour. The following figures will exhibit the
contrast between animals destined for different uses, yet each
exhibiting the characters proper to its own condition. The
one is an outline of a race-horse, Charles XII., the other of
a dray-horse of the old English Black Breed : —

Fig. 8.

XCV1

INTRODUCTION.
Fig. 9.

In the case of the Horse, we have considered the proper-
ties of external form, which we seek to communicate to an
animal whose physical powers we call forth for particular
ends. But other kinds of animals are destined for other
uses, and each has a conformation proper to itself, and in
them we endeavour to produce a class of characters depen-
dent upon their own nature and our purposes in rearing
them. Amongst these animals, the Ox, the Sheep, the Goat,
and the Hog, are domesticated chiefly for the purpose of pro-
ducing human food and clothing, but, above all, for the pro-
duction of food, either the flesh of the animals themselves,
or the milk of the females, produced for the nourishment of
their young. The characters indicative of the faculties best
suited for these different purposes differ in the different
species. But there are certain characters common to all of
them, which indicate in a greater or less degree their adap-
tation to the production of flesh or muscle, which, along with
the fatty secretion, constitutes food.

The muscular tissue or flesh consists of a series of fine
tubular fibres or threads. These fibres united form fasciculi.

EXTERNAL FORM. XCV11

or bundles of fibres, which, again, being united, form larger
fasciculi. These fibres and fasciculi are separated by a fine
intervening tissue of cells, in which is secreted the oily sub-
stance, fat. This latter substance is intermingled with the
muscular or fleshy tissue, and is found in large quantity be-
neath the skin and in the muscular tissue connected with it,
and surrounds, or is intermingled with, the various viscera
within the body, as the intestines, the heart, the kidneys, and
other organs. It affords nourishment to the system, is ex-
hausted when the animal is deprived of food, and increases
largely in quantity when abundant sustenance is supplied.

The muscular tissue or flesh grows with the animal, and
is essential to its existence and power of motion. When it
arrives at its full growth, little further addition can be made
to it by means of food. But it is otherwise with the fatty
matter which surrounds and is intermingled with its sub-
stance. When the food which the animal assimilates by the
action of its organs is no longer needed to form muscle and
bone, it produces fat ; the muscles become enlarged, and the
integuments extended, and the accumulation of fat takes place
in great quantity within the trunk. By merely feeding an ani-
mal, we may not have the power of increasing its muscular
substance, but we have a great power over the increase of the
fatty matter, which, along with the fleshy fibre, forms food.

Now, a certain set of characters indicates in all the ani-
mals enumerated the property of arriving speedily at ma-
turity of bone and muscle, and of readily secreting fat. As
the property of quickly assimilating nourishment depends on
the action of the digestive and respiratory organs, so it has
been inferred that a large chest for containing the organs of
respiration, and a capacious trunk for containing the stomach
and other viscera employed in digestion, are connected with
the property of easy digestion and assimilation. But what-
ever be the causes assigned, experience shews that, in every
case of a healthy animal, the property of fattening quickly
is combined with a capacious body. Further, as an indica-
tion of the property of secreting fat, we find an absence of

XCV11I INTRODUCTION.

thickness or coarseness, as it is termed, of the bones of the
extremities, as of the head, limbs, and caudal vertebrse or
tail. A thick and large head, massy limbs below the hock
and knee, and a thick tail, may indicate strength and large
muscles ; but they do not manifest that peculiar delicacy of
form which experience shews to exist in an animal that can
be fattened with facility.

Besides those indications of a tendency to fatten readily,
which are exhibited by the conformation of the animal, there is
one of essential importance indicated by the touch. The skin
is found to be soft, and, as it were, expansive. This property
differs from mere thinness of the integuments, which, as in-
dicative of want of hardiness, would be regarded as a defect.
It is a softness combined with elasticity, conveying the idea
of a fine membrane spread over a soft cushion. The differ-
ence between the mellow feel, as it has been termed, of an
animal which fattens readily, and the hard inexpansive skin
of an animal which does not possess this property, is readily
discriminated.

These characters, — the broad chest and expanded trunk,
the fineness of the bones of the extremities, and the soft ex-
pansive integuments, — have been found indications of the
property of secreting the fatty tissue in all the animals which
we domesticate. They extend to the horse, the rabbit, the
domesticated fowls, and even to the dog, nay, it is believed,
to the human species. In the most numerous kennel of
hounds, we should have little difficulty in pointing out, by
means of the wide chests, the round bodies, and soft skins,
all the individuals which became the most quickly fattened
by the food consumed by them.

The Horse may, for the uses for which we design him, be
too much loaded with muscle and fat. This can never be to
the degree of being defects in the animals which we rear for
the production of these substances. The greater the volume
of muscular and fatty substance which such an animal bears,
and the larger the space which his body occupies in proportion
to his limbs, the more adapted is his form to the uses to which

EXTERNAL FORM.

XC1X

he is to be applied. In all cases, then, of animals to be fat-
tened, we desire that the trunk shall be large in proportion
to the limbs, or, in other words, that the limbs shall be short
in proportion to the trunk,

In the Horse, we cultivate the characters of form which in-
dicate the power of active movements of the body. In ani-
mals which we design to rear up to the earliest possible ma-
turity of muscle and fatness, we desire no other power of
active motion than consists with the means of procuring their
own food ; and when the state in which we keep them is per-
fectly artificial, so that food is supplied to them in unlimited
quantity, we cultivate characters entirely the opposite of
those which indicate activity.

Of the animals reared in this manner for human food, the
Ox is one whose form has, in this country, been brought to
great perfection with relation to his power of arriving at
early maturity, and becoming soon fat.

The Ox differs essentially from the Horse in his internal
conformation and exterior form. Being of the class of Ru-
minants, his body is largely extended in the abdominal re-
gion, and the form and capacity of his chest are modified in
a corresponding degree. While the Horse stands within a
square, of which his body occupies about one-half, the Ox
stands within a rectangle, of which his body occupies a larger
proportion than the half, as in the following figure, which is
the outline of a Galloway Heifer.

Fig. 10.

C INTRODUCTION.

The teeth of the ox consist only of two kinds, namely, the
sharp-edged, or incisors, which perform the office of cutting
the substances presented to them, in the manner of shears
or chisels, and the molar teeth, which are situated farther
back in the jaw, and are designed for grinding or bruising.
In the ox, there are 8 incisors in the lower jaw, and none
opposite in the upper. In place of incisors in the upper jaw,
there is a kind of cartilaginous pad, against which the incisor
teeth press in the act of dividing the food ; and it is by means
of the incisors and this pad, that the ox partly cuts and partly
tears the herbage plants on the ground. He has 8 incisors,
then, in the lower jaw, and 6 molars in the upper jaw, and 6
in the lower, on each side, in all 32 teeth, disposed thus :

Molar. Canine. Incisors. Canine. Molar.
Upper jaw, .6 0 0 0 6

Under jaw, .6 0 8 0 6

The Ox, like most of the ruminating tribes, is furnished
with horns, which are the weapons of defence given to him.
In certain cases, under the influence of domestication, the
horns disappear, yet even then the animal instinctively strikes
with his forehead, which, in the absence of horns, is strength-
ened by a greater expansion of the frontal bones. In other
cases, the horns become short and lose their sharpness, or
even assume a direction which unfits them for inflicting
wounds, as in the following figure of a Bull of the Long-
horned Dishley Breed.

Fig. 11.

EXTERNAL FORM. Cl

The Ox possesses 7 cervical. 13 dorsal, 6 lumbar, and 5
sacral vertebrae united into one piece, with a varying number
of vertebrae of the tail.

Proceeding at first horizontally from the spine, the ribs
bend downward somewhat vertically, so that the back is
broad. The ribs are very broad, and as they proceed back-
ward, each projects more outward than the anterior one, so
that at the abdomen the trunk is very large. As compared
with the horse, the scapula is less oblique, and, with the
humerus, forms a more upright shoulder ; the vertebrae of the
loins and back are of greater size, the transverse processes
are larger and stronger, the sternum is broader, presenting
a larger surface to support the more extended chest of the
animal, and for the attachment exteriorly of that mass, partly
muscular and partly cartilaginous, which is termed the
brisket, and which, in these animals, when largely fed, be-
comes sometimes of great dimensions, almost reaching to the
ground. The bones of the limbs are analogous to those of
the horse, but at the fetlock-joint divide into two sets, so that
in each limb there are two pastern, two coronet, and two
coffin bones. The hoofs are thus said to be cleft, and each,
division has its own defence of horn.

The muscular system of the ox is very large, covering in
great mass the breast, the shoulder, the back, the haunch,
the sides. The blood-vessels are of great size, the quantity
of blood is large, and the circulation, as compared with many
other quadrupeds, slow. The integuments consist of a thick
skin covered with hair.

As the natural conformation of the Ox differs greatly from
that of the Horse, so there is an equal divergence in those
characters of form, which we endeavour to communicate to
him for the purpose of suiting him to our purposes. In the
horse we require the exertion of physical force for the carry-
ing of loads, for the drawing of weights, or for rapid motion.
These purposes may be sought for in the ox intended for
labour ; but generally our purpose in rearing the ox is the

Cll INTRODUCTION.

production of human food, either the flesh of either sex, or
the milk of the female for the products of the dairy.

For the former of these purposes, namely, the production
of the muscular or fatty tissue, we require in the Ox, as in all
the other animals cultivated for the same productions, that
the chest shall be wide and deep, and the trunk capacious,
that the body shall be large in proportion to the limbs, or, in
other words, that the limbs shall be short with relation to
the bulk of the body, and that the bones shall be what is
called fine, as indicated by the delicacy of the extremities.

The head should be somewhat small, and rather elongated
than short and thick. But in the bull, the forehead is na-
turally more broad than in the female. When the head of
the bull approaches to the narrow and elongated form of that
of the female, he may be docile, and apt to fatten readily,
but he will have lost too much of his masculine character,
and may give birth to too delicate a progeny. Even in the
refinement of breeding, therefore, we should desire to see the
bull possess so much of the masculine characters as to com-
municate a sufficient degree of strength and hardihood to his
descendants. On the other hand, should the head of the
female approach too much to the masculine character of the
bull, we shall have reason to infer from experience, that she
will be deficient in the faculty of yielding milk. The chan-
nel of the lower jaw should be wide, and the eyes, as indica-
tive of health, prominent and clear.

The bony ridge on the summit of the head, from which the
horns proceed, should be somewhat raised, so that the horns
shall appear to be slightly attached to the head. The length
and size of the horns vary with temperament and race, and
in certain breeds they do not exist. But, cseteris paribus, it
is to be desired that the horns shall be delicate rather than
coarse and thick ; great thickness and coarseness of horn
being usually connected with coarseness of the cuticular
system.

The neck, in the natural state, must be of such length that

EXTERNAL FORM. Clll

the animal can reach the ground, and collect his food ; but if
the limbs be short, so will the neck be in proportion to the
size of the trunk ; and hence shortness of neck, with relation
to the size of the body, is one of the points of character re-
garded in the Ox. But an undue shortness of neck, like all
deviations from the natural form, may likewise indicate dimi-
nution of strength and hardiness. By refinement in breed-
ing, and by giving the animal his food from the birth in stalls
and mangers, his neck may become so short as to render him
unable to reach the ground, and collect his natural suste-
nance.

A capacious trunk being connected with the property of
fattening, the ribs should be widely arched, rising almost
horizontally from the spine, and then bending downwards
with a sweep, producing a wide and flat back, and likewise
round sides, as far as the natural form of the animal will
allow. This is an important character in the Ox, in which
narrowness of back, and too great flatness of sides, scarcely
ever consist with the property of fattening quickly. In the
Horse, we have seen, this conformation indicates weakness,
and in a no less degree it indicates, in the Ox, the want of
that vigour which is connected with the power to fatten. In
the Horse designed for active motion, we required that the
chest, at its commencement, should not be too wide, so as to
place the fore-limbs too far asunder, and that the breast
should not extend too much in front of the fore-limbs, so as
to render the animal heavy before. In the Ox, none of these
characters can exist to the degree of being injurious. We
require that the breast shall be wide and well extended for-
ward, and that the fore-limbs shall be far asunder.

The shoulders should be broad at the top, and well covered
with muscle. The spines of the back and loins should be so
enveloped in muscle as to cause the back to appear nearly
straight from the neck backwards. The back and loins
should be somewhat long ; for although a short and compact
body indicates greater robustness and tendency to fatten, yet

CIV INTRODUCTION".

length of body increases the space for muscles, and conse-
quently the weight of the animal. Breeders, therefore, look
to length of trunk as connected with economical value ; yet
if this character be not combined with others which are good,
as depth and roundness of trunk, and strength and breadth
of back and loins, there will be more of loss by the dimi-
nished tendency to fatten, than of gain by the larger extent
of muscular surface.

The size of the haunch of the ox is not connected with the
property of fattening ; but it is connected, in an important
degree, with the weight and economical value of the animal.
The haunch commences with the iliac portion of the pelvis,
or haunch-bone, commonly called, in the case of this animal,
the hook-bone or huckle-bone. These protuberances should
appear as if nearly on a level with the back, and they should
be distant from one another, indicating breadth over the
loins. The upper line of the haunch should be long and
straight to the bending downwards of the tail. The femur and
tibia should be long, so that the size of the haunch shall be
increased, and a larger space afforded for muscular substance.
By enlarging the haunch in all its directions, the weight of
the animal is increased, and this in a manner which does
not, as in the case of extending the back alone, tend to pro-
duce weakness.

Corresponding with the width of the trunk, the fore and
hinder limbs respectively will be far apart ; and this, accord-
ingly, is a point of form looked to by breeders as indicative
of that lateral expansion of the body, which is sought for in
the Ox, as in every animal to be fattened. The limbs, it has
been seen, should be relatively short ; but the fore-arm to the
knee should be long in proportion to the part from the knee
to the hoof; and, in like manner, in the posterior limbs, the
leg to the hock should be long in proportion to the part below
the hock. This character is desired in the Ox, 1st, because the
parts above the knee and hock, respectively, contain muscle,
while those below consist almost entirely of tendon ;

EXTERNAL FORM. CV

because the character indicates that delicacy of the extremi-
ties which experience shews to consist with the property of
fattening quickly.

The Ox, when viewed in profile, should exhibit a square
and massive form, filling the greater part of the rectangle in
which he is contained. When viewed from behind, he should
present the same square and massive aspect ; and the muscles
on the inner side of the tibia, forming what is technically
termed the twist, should be largely developed. The large
flat muscles which surround the abdomen should be of suffi-
cient strength to keep the belly from hanging. Generally,
the muscular parts should appear to pass without abruptness
from the one to the other. Thus, the muscles of the neck
should gradually expand into those of the breast, and these
again into the shoulders, while the muscles of the shoulders
should pass into those behind, so as to leave littla hollow-
ness ; and the flanks before the stifle-bone should be well
filled up.*

* The following are the popular characters usually given as indicative of
the property of fattening, and the suitable form, in the Ox ; from which it will
be seen, that the results of observation and experience accord with those which
may be derived from an examination of the functions and structure of the
parts.

1. The head shall be fine, somewhat long, and diminishing to the muzzle,
which shall be thin.

2. The horns shall be fine, and placed on the summit of the head ; the eyes
shall be prominent and clear.

3. The neck shall be free from coarseness, large where it joins the shoulder
and breast, and diminishing to the head.

4. The breast shall be wide, and project well in front of the fore-limbs.

5. The shoulder shall be broad, but join without abruptness to the neck be-
fore, and to the chine behind.

6. The back and loins shall be straight, wide, and flat.

7. The girth behind the shoulders shall be large, and the ribs well arched.

8. The hook-bones shall be far apart and nearly on a level with the back-
bone ; and from the hook -bone to the bending down of the tail, the quarter
shall be long, broad, and straight.

9. The tail shall be broad at the upper part, and small and progressively
diminishing towards the extremity.

10. The legs shall be short, fleshy to the knee and hock, and below the joints
flat and thin, and the hoofs shall be small.

11. The skin shall be soft to the touch, the belly shall not hang down, there
shall be little hollo wness behind the shoulders, and tho flanks shall be well
filled up.

CV1 INTRODUCTION.

These are the principal characters which indicate, in the
Ox, the property of adding to the fatty matter of the body,
and, consequently, of becoming sooner fitted for human food.
Those which indicate, in the female, the faculty of yielding
much milk, differ in certain respects. The extreme broad-
ness of chest, so important in the case of the fattening animal,
is not required in the case of the milch cow, although there
is nothing inconsistent between this conformation and the
power of yielding much milk. But the points essential to
the milch cow are rather connected with the hinder than with
the anterior extremities. The loins should be wide, and the
trunk deep from the loins to the mammae. This form exist-
ing, the more the cow possesses of the other characters, the
better is she fitted to combine the property of yielding milk
with that of fattening. In a cow designed for breeding ani-
mals to be fattened, the milching property is only secondary,
yet a cow will produce the better calves that she is wide and
deep in the lumbar region. A purely dairy cow should have
a soft skin, clear eyes, and a narrow and elongated head ;
the udder should be of good size, but have sufficient muscular
power to prevent its being flaccid. The superficial veins
near the udder should be well marked, but especially the
large vein which runs along the lower side of the belly on
each side, termed the subcutaneous abdominal vein. This
last is popularly called the milk-vein, although it is not
directly connected with the mammary organs. The follow-
ing is an outline of a Dairy Cow of the Ayrshire Breed.

Fig. 12.

EXTERNAL FORM. evil

The skin of the ox, it has been said, should be soft to the
touch, but not thin ; it should likewise be unctuous, and well
covered with soft hair. By refinement in breeding, and espe-
cially by breeding from animals near of blood, the hair be-
comes short and scanty ; but when this is so, we are reminded
that we are deviating from the natural characters in a point
connected with hardiness of constitution. The colour of the
hair depends upon causes which we have not yet been able
to trace. In this country, certain races tend to the black
colour, while others are never found but of the lighter. The
Short-Horned and Hereford breeds are never found but red
or white, while the Long-horned, like the cattle of the moun-
tains, are often black. It does not appear that the colour of
the hair is of very great moment with regard to the hardi-
ness of the animal, though, in cases of high breeding, as in
the Short-horned variety, the white colour seems to be a con-
sequence of constitutional deviation from the natural state.
The muzzle, in certain breeds, is light or flesh-coloured; and in
others black ; and this character frequently affords an indica-
tion of the purity of an animal, or, in other words, its free-
dom from intermixture of blood with other races.

The Sheep differs greatly from the Ox in sfze and form ;
but there are certain characters common to both, which in-
dicate their adaptation to the same uses. In the Sheep, the
cranium is relatively larger than in the Ox, the pieces are
more closely united, and the frontal bones forming the fore-
head comparatively more thick, as if to fit the animal for that
method of attack which is natural to him ; but generally the
bones of the sheep are of a greatly less dense consistence
than those of the ox. The Sheep has usually horns, which
are rough, angular, and tending to the spiral, but under the
effects of domestication, the horns frequently disappear in
one or both sexes ; and the largest and most highly culti-
vated races of this country are destitute of horns. The or-
bits of the sheep are large, and the eyes correspond in size
and prominence with this conformation.

The Sheep, like the Ox, is furnished with a cartilaginous

CVlll INTRODUCTION.

pad in the upper jaw, on which the incisor teeth of the lower
press. His incisors have a certain- power of motion, so that
the animal can suit them to sinuosities of the surface when
pasturing ; and his upper lip being partially cleft, he has the
power of placing his mouth close to the ground, so that he
can crop the shortest herbage. He has 8 incisor teeth in the
lower jaw, and 6 molars on each side of both jaws, so that
the disposition of his teeth may be represented, precisely as
in the case of the ox, thus :

Molar. Canine. Incisor. Canine. Molar.
Upper jaw, .6 0 .0 0 6

Under jaw, .6 0 8 0 6

The Sheep has 7 vertebrae of the neck, 13 of the back, 6 of
the loins. The sacrum terminates in the caudal vertebrae,
which vary in number to 21. The sternum is thin, and has
attached to it the projection, partly cartilaginous and partly
muscular, termed the brisket.

The integuments of the sheep are thick and dense, covered
partly with hair and partly with wool, kept soft by an oily
secretion from the skin. In the wilder races the hair is
largely mixed with the wool ; under artificial treatment, the
hair diminishes in quantity, and at length is confined to the
face and legs, all the rest of the fleece being woolly. The
filaments of the wool possess more or less tenuity, softness,
and length.

The following figure is an outline of a ram of the New
Leicester breed, divested of his wool.

Fig. 13.

EXTERNAL FOKM. C1X

The Sheep may be cultivated chiefly for the production of
human food, or chiefly for wool for clothing. In this country
the Sheep is chiefly cultivated for the former of these pur*
poses ; and the same general characters which indicate the
facility of fattening readily in the Ox, indicate it in the Sheep.
But in producing those characters in the Sheep, there is a
class of considerations to which we must pay regard even
more than in the case of the Ox, namely, those which relate to
health, and the conditions under which the animal is to subsist.
The Sheep is subj ect to a multitude of dangerous maladies ;
and great losses, extending to the destruction of whole flocks,
may result from increasing his fattening properties, at the
expense of robustness and general health. In certain cases
he is maintained in an artifical state in a country of enclosures,
but in others he is compelled to submit to the inclemency of
all weathers, and to travel to great distances over the steril
mountains, heaths, and downs, which afford him herbage.
The same delicacy of form which might adapt him to one
condition of external agents might unfit him for another ;
and even under the most favourable circumstances, his deli-
cacy of form and fattening properties may be increased at
the expense of others not less necessary to be taken into
the account.

The Sheep, like the Ox, may be said to stand within a rect-
angle ; and the more of the rectangular space his body occu-
pies in proportion to his limbs, the better is he fitted for
producing a large quantity of muscle and fat in propor-
tion to his dimensions. When we look, therefore, for this
property alone, we say that in the Sheep, as in the Ox, the
body should be large in proportion to the limbs, or, in other
words, that the limbs should be short in proportion to the
body.

The head should be relatively small, as indicating that
delicacy of the extremities which denotes an animal that
readily assimilates his food. The face should be covered
with short hair, the channel of the jaws should be wide, the

ex INTRODUCTION.

external ears should be thin, the eyes prominent and clear,
the neck should be short and well covered with muscles,
which should expand quickly from the points of attachment
at the cranium and jaws towards the breast and shoulder.
A thinness of the neck, although not inconsistent with the
property of fattening, usually indicates a deficiency of muscle
on the breast and shoulder, and, generally, a want of vigour
in the animal.

The neck should be slightly arched ; but in certain races
it is nearly level with the back. From the neck to the pel-
vis the upper line of the back should be straight, and nearly
so from the loins to the bending downward of the tail. The
back should be of medium length, and the distance between
the last rib and the pelvis relatively short. Breeders, in-
deed, desire a long sheep ; but the character of length, de-
rived from extension of the dorsal and lumbar parts, does
not indicate vigour or disposition to fatten, but merely a
larger extent of muscular substance. But the haunch should
always be long from the haunch -bones backward, — this con-
formation never indicating the weakness which may result
from a too great extension in length' of the back and loins.

The upper line of the haunch, it has been said, should be
long and straight from the haunch-bones backward. When
it droops considerably, as in the less cultivated breeds, the
conformation is regarded as defective. Further, the whole
haunch or quarter should be broad and deep, corresponding
to the depth of trunk, and the muscles should be largely de-
veloped in the inside of the tibia, forming what is popularly
called the twist.

The ribs should be very curved, proceeding at first hori-
zontally from the spine, from which conformation it will re-
sult that the back will be broad as well as straight. In cer-
tain highly cultivated breeds, the horizontal expansion of the
ribs is so great that often it seems to the eye as if the body
were more broad than deep. The transverse processes of
the lumbar region should, in an especial degree, be largo,

EXTERNAL FORM. CXI

I indicating broad loins, a character denoting, in the case of
all animals, strength of back and general hardihood.

The haunch-bones should be distant from one another, in-
dicating the character, before referred to, of broadness of the
haunch ; the breast should be wide, largely covered with
muscle, and projecting well in front of the fore-limbs. In
consequence of the width of the breast, the fore- legs will be
distant from one another, and the same character should ex-
tend to the posterior limbs, indicating the lateral extension
of the body at every part. The limbs should be fleshy down
to the knees and hocks, and below these joints, narrow when
seen from the front, and flat when seen in profile. There
should be a general absence of angular points and hollows,
as where the neck joins the shoulder, the shoulder the parts
behind, and the loins the haunch.

The skin, too, should present that softness to the touch
which indicates facility in fattening in all animals known to
us. It should be closely covered with wool, extending to
the face, which is covered with a short hair, and to the knees
and hocks, where the tendinous parts of the muscles begin.

The characters which indicate the property of producing
wool of different length and fineness have not been so accu-
rately determined. It is known merely that different races
have the faculty of producing wool different in the length,
tenuity, softness, and other properties of the fibre. In gene-
ral, the sheep long naturalized in countries of abundant
herbage produce long thick wool, while those acclimated in
countries yielding the finer herbage plants, produce wool
more or less short and fine. But whatever be the conditions
under which different kinds of wool are produced, it is known
that the property can be transmitted from the parents to the
young, in the same manner as other characters acquired.

The Hog differs greatly in conformation and habits from
the animals that have been described. His face is termi-
nated by a cartilaginous disc, endued with great strength
and exquisite sensibility, with which he grubs up the roots,

CX11

INTRODUCTION.

larvae, and other food which he finds under ground. His
neck is strong and muscular ; his limbs in the natural state
are short and stout ; his skin is very thick, and covered with
bristles. He possesses the kind of teeth suited to animals
that are omnivorous, and the canines bending upward, be-
come in the male formidable weapons. His feet are cloven,
and defended by strong hoofs, and he has toes behind which
do not reach the ground. The following is an outline of the
Wild Boar and Sow, brought from the south of Europe.

Fig. 14.

Differing so greatly in conformation as this animal does
from those which have been described, yet the same general
characters indicate in him, as in all the others, the faculty
of readily assimilating his food, and of quickly arriving at
that maturity of muscle and fatness, which fits him for the
uses for which he is destined ; and there is no other animal
known to us which so easily receives the characters which
we seek to impress upon it, or transmits them more faith-
fully to his offspring, "

The breast should be wide and deep, and the trunk capa-
cious. The extremities, namely, the head, the tail, and the
lower part of the limbs, should be delicate ; and the legs
should be short in proportion to the size of the trunk.

EXTERNAL FORM.

CXlll

The skin should be soft and expansive, and the bristles soft
and approaching to the character of hair. The following
figures will shew the surprising deviation from the natural
form which the animal, under the influence of domestication,
exhibits. The first is an outline of the Old English Sow,
exhibiting almost all the characters of external form which
breeders study to avoid ; the second is an outline of a cross
between a female 'of the Siamese race and a native male of
a fine breed, shewing the characters which are held to be
good, and the consequent tendency to obesity which these
characters indicate.

Fig. 15.

Fig. 16.

The physiological effects have been referred to of breeding
from animals nearly allied to one another in blood. When
carried to the degree of continually reuniting animals of the
nearest affinities, as parents with their offspring, and brothers
with sisters, the effect, after a time, is manifested in the im-

Cxiv INTRODUCTION.

pairment of the constitution of the animals, and at length
in unfitting them for reproducing their own kind. In the
practice which has existed in England of forming artificial
breeds of sheep and cattle, this class of experiments has
been made to the degree of shewing the limits to which
it can be carried, under a regard to the safety, and even
existence, of the animals. In the original formation of some
of the finer artificial breeds of this country, animals were
sought for having the characters which it was designed to
cultivate. But the breeders, unwilling to mix the blood of
inferior races with that of their own improved stocks, con-
tinued to breed from them alone, and found, by experience,
that the nearer in affinities of blood, and consequently of
characters, the parents were, the more their progeny re-
sembled them. Hence the extensive system of breeding
" in-and-in," as it was called, pursued by the earlier breed-
ers, as Bakewell, Colling, and others. The effect was very
quickly to produce a distinct family, distinguished by the
characters communicated to it. But this effect was followed
by another which was not contemplated, and could scarcely
have been inferred independently of experience. The ani-
mals arrived sooner at maturity, and thus became more
quickly adapted to the uses for which they were intended, —
the supply of human food : so that one of the most import-
ant ends of the breeder was attained, the procuring of ani-
mals fitted to arrive at early maturity of muscle and fatness,
in which respects some of the artificial breeds of England
became the finest in the world, and still surpass those of any
other country. But the practice was soon discovered to have
its limits, and, when carried too far, to produce all the effects
on the system which have been referred to. The animals,
with their earlier maturity, and increased tendency to obe-
sity, became less hardy ; their skins became thinner, and
the hairy or woolly covering more scanty ; their limbs be-
came more slender ; the males lost so much of the masculine
characters as often to be incapable of propagating their race,

EXTERNAL FORM. CXV

while the power of the females to secrete milk diminished ;
and both sexes were rendered more subject to diseases, as
apoplexy, and inflammation of the digestive and respiratory
organs. While, then, it is important to be aware of this
mean of communicating certain properties to animals culti-
vated for human food, it is no less important to be aware
of its tendency to impair that sound health, and constitu-
tional hardiness, on which the profit of the breeder may
often more depend, than even on an early maturity of the
animal system.

COATS OF THIBET.

I. THE GOAT.

OF the Ruminating Animals, the most varied in their
forms, the most beautiful and swift, are the Deer and Ante-
lope tribes ; the former furnished with solid antlers of bone,
which, in all the species but one, are confined to the male,
and which fall off after the season of Bexual intercourse ; the

2 THE GOAT.

latter possessed of hollow horns, like those of the Ox, the
Sheep, and the Goat, enveloping permanent nuclei of bone
proceeding from the forehead. Of the many species of Deer,
only one, the Reindeer, an inhabitant of the northern glacial
region, has been subjected to true domesticity, although in-
dividuals of the other species may be readily tamed to sub-
mission and dependence. Of the Antelope tribes, all the
species remain in a state of liberty, apparently endowed with
instincts which cause them to shun the dangerous vicinage
of man. But the Antelopes, wild, timid, and indocile as they
seem, are most of them gentle and submissive when reared
up under human protection, and might, doubtless, like their
congeners, be reduced to domestication : and further, the
Antelopes approach by insensible gradations to the forms of
those animals which Nature has fashioned to subject them-
selves most readily to the physical force and moral influence
of our race. At one point they are connected with the mas-
sive forms of the Bovine group, and at another they pass
into the Goats so nearly, that the line which separates the
species scarcely forms a natural boundary. The chief dis-
tinction between them and the Goats is in the bony nuclei of
the horns, which, in the Antelopes, are hard and solid, in the
Goats cellular, and communicating with the frontal sinuses.
As the Antelopes pass into the Goats, so the latter pass into
the Sheep. The internal organization of both the families is
the same ; they bear their young for the same period, have a
similar sound of the voice, and they breed with one another,
giving birth to a progeny partaking of the characters of the
parents. Both are covered with a mixture of hair and wool ;
but in the Goats the true wool rarely predominates over the
hair, so as to form the essential covering of the body. The
horns of the Goat are more straight and upright than those
of the Sheep, though in some varieties of Goats the horns
are spirally twisted, and in some varieties of Sheep, as in
the short-tailed kinds of northern Europe, the horns are as
straight as in the Goat. The Goat has generally bristly

HISTORY. 3

hairs on the breast, throat, and lower jaw, forming a distinct
beard ; but in some Goats these are wanting, and in some of
the ruder varieties of Sheep a beard appears, although it is
never so fully developed as in the male of Goats. The Goat
has a short tail, naked below, and carried more or less up-
right ; but this character likewise exists in certain races of
Sheep, as in those of the Zetland Islands, and generally in
the other races of the extreme north of Europe. The skin
of the Goat emits a peculiar musky odour, which, so far as
is known, does not exist in any race of Sheep ; yet there are
Goats in the countries of the East which are destitute of the
hircine odour. It is said, indeed, that the Sheep is distin-
guished from the Goat by the former possessing interdigital
glands ; but this character is not ascertained to be univer-
sal ; and it must, therefore, be admitted that all the charac-
ters of form employed to discriminate the two groups are
technical and trivial. It is chiefly by the general aspect and
habitudes of the species that we can separate them into ge-
nera. The Goat always approaches more in form and habits
to the Antelope tribes than the Sheep, and may be regarded
as the connecting link between them. While the Sheep, in
the state of domestication, is comparatively submissive and
timid, the Goat is restless, bold, and independent, even when
most enslaved. He is familiar and capricious, wanders at
will from his fellows of the flock, and seeks the craggy sum-
mits of the mountains where his native plants are to be found.
He boldly faces the enemies that assail him, and manifests a
greater confidence in his human protectors than the Sheep.

From the earliest period of human societies, this wild and
erratic creature seems to have been subjected to the power
of man. We read of him as coeval with the Ox and the
Sheep in those fair regions of the East where the first dawn
of civilization appears through the mists of time. He en-
tered into the mythological systems of the first nations, and,
by the earlier observers of the heavens, was appointed to be a
sign in the Zodiac, with Aries and Taurus, his fellows in the
service of man ; although, in ancient Indian delineations of the

THE GOAT.

Zodiac, the Antelope, and not the Goat, is used as the sign
of Capricorn. The Sacred Writings continually refer to the
Goat as forming, along with the Sheep, the Ox. and the Camel,
the riches of the patriarchal families. He is one of the ani-
mals permitted by the laws of Moses .to be used as human
food, and he is ordained to be employed in a remarkable re-
ligious ceremony. He was cultivated by the Hindoos from
the earliest times ; and he is figured on the sculptured monu-
ments of the Egyptians, in their representations of mystic
emblems, religious rites, and rural labours. By the earliest
writers of Greece and Rome he is continually referred to as
yielding food and raiment ; and superstition connected him
with the attributes and service of the Gods. He was dedi-
cated to Jupiter Conservator, and sacrificed to Apollo, Diana,
Bacchus, and the Paphian Venus, and his skin was the JEgi*
of the Goddess of Wisdom and Arms. His form was one of
the attributes of Pan and the Satyrs, indicating the procrea-
tive power and rustic plenty. He was domesticated by the
Lybians and the nations that stretched along the southern
shores of the Mediterranean inland to the mountains of Atlas.
He was cultivated by the Dacians, Sarmatians, and other
nations stretching from the Euxine into the wilds of Scythia.
The Gauls and all the Celtic people of Europe appear to have
been possessed of him in the domesticated state, using his
hair and skin for garments, and his fiesh and milk for food.
Up to nearly the present day, the descendants of the pristine
Celtre cultivated the Goat, as one of the most useful of the
animals given to them for food. Until a recent period, the
Cambro-Britons and the Celtic people of the mountains of
North Britain and Ireland, made greater use of the Goat
than of the Sheep ; and many of their appellations of families,
places, mountains, rivers, and natural objects, are derived
from the name which it bears in the Celtic tongue. In like
manner, the Scandinavian, the German, and other Teutonic
nations, who had migrated in the first ages into Europe from
the East, were possessed of this gift of Providence, used his
spoils for raiment and food, arid coupled him with their wild

HISTORY. O

mperstitions. In short, the Goat appears to have been
domesticated wherever the traces are found of that great
Western Family of mankind, which, united by analogies of
form, speech, and traditionary legends, appears to have been
derived from a common source, and spread from a common
centre. But the domesticated Goat was not confined to this
division of the human race. It extended, beyond a question,
all through the boundless regions of Eastern Asia to the
ocean, comprehending tribes and nations, which, however
distinct from the western family of the human race in aspect,
character, and speech, yet agreed with it in this, that the
same domesticated animals ministered to the wants of both.
But the insular continent of New Holland never possessed
the Goat ; for no trace of this, or of any of the ruminating
animals which had elsewhere followed the footsteps of man,
as instruments of civilization, was found at the discovery of
this new world. Neither did it exist in any of the Polyne-
sian Islands ; and, more strange and incomprehensible still,
no vestige either of the domesticated Goat, or of his uni-
versal companions in the ancient world, the Sheep, the Ox,
and the Horse, was found in the great American Continent,
though peopled from end to end.

The wild animals of the Caprine group which have been
as yet discovered, and described by naturalists, are the fol-
lowing : —

1. CAPRA IBEX, the Alpine Ibex.

2. CAPRA CAUCASICA, the Caucasian Ibex.

3. CAPRA SIBIRICA, the Siberian Ibex.

4. CAPRA NUBIANA, the Nubian or xVbyssinian Ibex.

5. CAPRA ^EGAGRUS, the ^Egagrus.

6. CAPRA JEMLAHICA, the Jemlah Goat.

7. CAPRA JAHRAL, the Jahral Goat.

The ALPINE IBEX, the Bouquetin of the natives of the
Alps, the Stein-bok, or Rock-Goat of the Germans, inhabits the
Pyrenees, the Alps of Switzerland, and the Tyrol, and pro-
bably other mountainous parts of Europe. He resembles the

6 THE GOAT.

domestic Goat in his external form, but surpasses it in sta-
ture. He is protected by a coat of lank hair covering a down
of delicate wool, which falls off in the warmer season. The
colour of his fur is a grayish dusky brown, fawn-coloured on
the belly, and whitish on the inner part of the thighs, the in-
side of the ears, and a part of the tail. He has a beard, and
a dark brown ridge of bristly hairs extending from the neck
to the tail, which is shdrt and naked underneath. He has
large black horns, bending backwards, and turning outward
towards the points. His hoofs are large, widely cleft, and
sharp at the exterior edges, so that he can fix himself se-
curely on the points and shelving sides of rocks. This con-
formation, joined to his surpassing power of balancing his
body, and the great strength of his posterior limbs, enables
him to make those amazing bounds from crag to crag, by
which he is enabled to traverse the wilderness of rocks which
he inhabits. He has been seen to spring up the steep side
of a precipice of many feet, nay, striking the sides to give
himself a fresh impetus, ascend to the perilous summit as if
by a single effort ; and, on the other hand, to precipitate
himself from an eminence, alighting securely on the verge of
the precipice. It is believed by the hunters of the Alps, that,
when springing from a great height, he bends his head be-
neath his forelegs, so as to break his fall by striking the rock
with his horns. It is rather to be believed, that his power of
thus precipitating himself is due to his nice power of balanc-
ing his weight, and the conformation of the horny covering
of his feet. The female resembles the male, but her horns
are shorter, more slender, and less curved. She has two
mammee, forming an udder. She goes with young somewhat
more than twenty weeks, .and produces one, or often two, at
a birth. She receives the male about the end of October, so
that the kids may be born when the new shoots and leaves
of the vernal season appear. When about to give birth to
her young, she seeks some lonely place where she may be
safe from surprise, usually near some rivulet or spring, pro-
ceeding from the glaciers and mountains of snow which sur-

HISTORY. 7

round her. The kids, when born, are covered with a short
gray fur of hair and wool ; their limbs are stout, and their
bodies light and buoyant; and in a few hours they are able
to follow the dam, who vigilantly guards them from the at-
tacks of eagles and other beasts of prey.

These wild and powerful Goats are gregarious, and found
in small flocks ; but individuals separate from the herd, and
form their solitary lairs, like the stag and other deer. At
the rutting season, desperate conflicts take place for the pos-
session of the females, the stronger expelling the weaker, and
thus fulfilling a natural provision for preserving the proper-
ties of the race, by giving the privilege of propagating it to
the most vigorous. They inhabit the highest part of the
mountains, near the line of perpetual congelation and the
limits of vegetable life, and beyond the range of the wildest
of the Antelopes. They feed on the herbaceous willows, the
juniper, the crowberry, and other plants of the higher moun-
tains. In winter they descend to the lower slopes of the
hills, but never venture into the plains and woods of the
level country. They have the senses of sight, smell, and
hearing, in exquisite perfection. Perched on the loftiest
peaks, in the region of clouds and mist, they watch the mo-
tions of their enemies, and on their approach give signal of
danger to their comrades by a shrill whistle, when all betake
themselves to the neighbouring mountains of rock and ever-
lasting ice, where human foot cannot follow them. Yet they
are made the subject of the chase by the hardy hunters of the
Chamois Antelope, who steal upon them in their lonely lairs,
or bring them down by the fatal ball from the distant preci-
pice. When brought to bay, it is said they have been known
to precipitate themselves upon their pursuers, and hurl them
down a precipice. Incessant persecution has thinned their
numbers ; so that, in the mountains of Europe, where they
once abounded, they are now scarcely to be found.

This creature, so powerful, vigilant, and wild, is yet formed
to submit himself to human control. When the kids are

8 THE GOAT.

taken young, they are tamed with facility, and adopt the
habits of the domesticated flock. They breed with the tame
race, when kept together ; and it is an old opinion of the
shepherds of the Pyrenees and Alps, that Bouquetins some-
times come down from the higher mountains and mingle with
the females of the flock. The offspring of these supposed
unions are said to be larger and more robust than the com-
mon Goats, and are selected by the shepherds to be leaders
of the flock.

The CAUCASIAN IBEX, inhabiting the mountains of Taurus
and the Caucasus, so nearly resembles the Alpine Ibex, in
habits, colour, and form, that there seems to be no sufficient
reason for regarding it as specifically distinct. The princi-
pal divergence is in the horns ; but how greatly the horns of
the ruminating tribes vary with age and place, is known in
other cases ; and it is altogether probable, that the Ibex of
the Caucasus is no other than the Ibex of the Alps of Eu-
rope : and the same remark applies to the Ibex of the Ura-
lian mountains, termed Siberian. If future observation shall
shew that these species are identical, then the Ibex must be
characterized as having a surprising range of country. He is
an inhabitant of most of the great mountain ranges of Asia
and Europe, stretching from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus,
and thence, it may be believed, eastward to the snowy heights
of central Asia, and northward, by the Uralian and other
mountain chains, to Siberia and the Sea of Okotsk.

But Africa, where the forms of animal life present them-
selves under a new aspect, possesses likewise its mountain
Goats. The NUBIAN or ABYSSINIAN IBEX, has been found
at the eastern termination of that prodigious chain of moun-
tains, which, more or less continuously, seems to intersect
the continent from east to west. It is believed, but upon
doubtful grounds, that the same species is found in the moun-
tains of Arabia. The Abyssinian Ibex is described as being
larger than the Ibex of Europe ; as having little beard, but
a ridge of long hairs on the throat and sternum, and a dark

HI8TOKT.

line on the anterior part of the legs and along the back ; and
as having very large horns bent in a half circle.*

The JEGAGRUS, Capra JEgagrus of Pallas, inhabits the
mountain chains of Western Asia, from the Caucasus east-
ward, by the countries of the Caspian, to an unknown dis-
tance, and southward, through the high lands of Persia and
Caubul, into Hindostan. It is the Pazan of the Persians ; and
is believed to be one of the animals which yield the concre-
tion termed Bezoar, to which certain healing virtues are
ascribed by the Orientals. It resembles the common Goats
in its general form : it has very large horns, sometimes want-
ing in the females, of a brown ashy colour, marked with
tubercles, and sharp at the anterior edge, bending backward
and turning outward at the points. The hair of the body is
a grayish-brown, with a dark ridge along the spine, extend-
ing to the termination of the tail. The beard, of a rufous
colour, is long in the male, but shorter in the female, and
coarse hairs extend from the throat down the breast. This
creature is exceedingly wild, but inhabits a lower range of
altitude than the Ibex. It is numerous in the higher parts
of Asia Minor, and is believed by many naturalists to be the
parent stock of most of the domestic Goats ; and by some to
be the common Goat restored to a state of liberty.

The JEMLAH GOAT, Capra Jemlahica of Colonel Hamilton
Smith, is found in the most elevated parts of Central Asia.
It is described by this eminent naturalist, from a skin trans-
mitted to the British Museum, as being nearly of the size of
the Ibex, and as having the horns nearly in contact at the
base, of a pale ashy-buff colour, nodose, very depressed, nine
inches long, bending outwards, then turning suddenly, so as
to meet nearly over the neck. The bones of the head are
dense and ponderous, the tail is very short, and there is no
true beard. The colour of the hair, with the exception of
some darkish streaks, is a dull light fawn, with locks of

* Colonel Hamilton Smith.

10 THE GOAT.

brown interspersed ; and on the cheeks the hair is long and
coarse, hanging like a lion's mane on each side of the head.
Nothing is known of the habits of this beautiful Goat. Its
external characters shew it to be distinct from the Ibex of
the Caucasus and Europe.

The JAHRAL GOAT, Capra Jahral of Hodgson, has been
found in the mountains of Nepaul. It is described as having
the head finely formed, full of expression, clad in short hairs,
and without any vestige of beard. It is of a compact and ro-
bust make ; is found solitary or in flocks ; is bold, capricious,
wantcn, pugnacious, and easily domesticated. It has the
horns nine inches in length, smooth, and sharpened towards
the points, and not turned inward or nodose, like those of the
Jemlah. It is clothed with a coat of hair covering a fine and
delicate wool, of one length and colour. Superficially the
hair is brown, but internally it is blue, and the mane is for
the most part of the same colour. The tongue, the palate,
and the skin of the lips, are black, and the iris is of a deep
reddish hazel.*

In America, the Goat is represented by the Wool-bearing
Antelope, which approaches so nearly in character to the
Goat, that it is by some naturalists included in the latter
genus.

Such are the wild of the Caprine family which naturalists
have discriminated ; but how far the list yet remains to be
corrected, or extended, is unknown. The great mountains
and elevated plains of Central Asia have as yet been imper-
fectly opened to European research, and the paths of the tra-
veller are but as specks and lines in the countries to be ex-
plored. The boundless terraces and interior mountains of
the African continent, which may be regarded as the centre
of a distinct order of living beings, may be said to be as yet
untrodden by the foot of civilized man ; and we know nothing
of the treasures which this vast wilderness may contain, be-

* Hodgson — Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

HISTORY. 11

yond the animals which approach the coasts, or are found in
the few countries which are accessible. We may expect that,
as future explorers advance into the wilder regions of tjie
two continents, the natural history of the Caprine family will
be illustrated and extended. But, as domesticated Goats are
found in the possession of almost all the nations of the Old
Continents, a natural inquiry, even in the present state of
our knowledge, arises, as to the parent stock from which
these animals, so generally diffused, have been derived.

Ancient writers frequently speak of Wild Goats in a man-
ner which leads us to conclude that they regarded them
merely as the wild of the common race. But the notices of
these writers are so vague and imperfect, that we do not
know whether they referred to the Ibex, the ^Egagrus, the
Chamois Antelope, or any other species formerly inhabiting
the same countries, but now driven away or destroyed. The
opinion prevalent until a recent period was, that the Ibex
was the parent stock of the common Goats ; but since the
JEgagrus has been admitted to be a distinct species, the
general opinion of naturalists has been, that the latter rather
than the Ibex, is the wild of th^ common Goat. But the
^Egagrus does not approach nearer in habitudes and form to
the common Goats than the Ibex ; and although the latter
inhabits a higher range of mountains, he seems to resign his
natural liberty with equal readiness. Further, the Jemlah
Goat, and, by analogy, we may believe, others of the genus,
seem to be all endowed with the faculty of resigning their
natural freedom, and submitting to domestication. The most
probable supposition, therefore, is, that the domesticated
Goats have been derived not from one, but from different
species. Not only do the Goats of different countries differ
from one another, but there exist in the same country, under
the same conditions of climate and food, races so divergent,
that it is scarcely possible to believe that they have not been
derived from stirpes distinct in the wild state. The Syrian
Goat, so called, with a convex face and with an udder in the

12 THE GOAT.

female hanging to the ground, is as different from the Com-
mon Goats of the same country as the Jackal from the Wolf,
and has retained, as we know from ancient notices, its dis-
tinctive characters for twenty centuries at least ; that is, for
nearly two thousand generations of the race. The little
Goats of the coast of Guinea have been acclimated in America
and the West India Islands for more than a hundred years,
without making the least approach to those carried to the
same countries from Europe. These and similar facts are
irreconcilable with the supposition of a common descent, and
lead to the conclusion, that different species of Goats, having
the property of procreating with one another, have produced
the domesticated races.

The Goat, extended throughout so many climates and dis-
tant countries, and subjected to conditions of life far different
from those to which his natural instincts adapt him, must
present himself to us with great variations of form and aspect,
independently of the diversities arising from those of the
parent stock. Sometimes the horns disappear in one or
both sexes, and in certain cases the animals become poly-
cerate ; sometimes the hair is long, and sometimes it is as
short as in the fallow deer ; and sometimes the beard is very
long, and sometimes it is rudimental. The colour assumes
every variety, from sandy- black to milk-white, and the size
and form of the body are greatly varied. Of the Goats of
Central Asia the most celebrated and best known in Europe
are those of Thibet, which are noted beyond all others for
the soft and delicate wool they produce, and which falls off
in the warmer season, affording the material of one of the
most beautiful fabrics of the Eastern looms. These Goats
are long in the body, having large falcated horns, stout
limbs, and long glossy hair, frequently a foot and a half in
length, trailing almost to the ground. The colour is fre-
quently milk-white, but more generally it is brown, with
points of a golden yellow. The wool, tending of itself to fall
off at a certain season, is easily separated by means of combs,

HISTORY.

while the hair is left. It is then spun by females, and after-
wards the threads are dyed of the colours required. A shawl
of the finest fabric takes a year or more in making. Four
persons, and in the case of plain shawls, two, sit at a frame,
using numerous needles. In working, the rough part of the
shawl is uppermost. A superintendent regulates the pattern,
and when the shawl is woven it is carried to the custom-
house, stamped, and a duty paid upon it corresponding to its
fineness and value.* In the province of Cashmere alone, it
is computed that 30,000 of these beautiful fabrics are manu-
factured every year. They are in universal demand over the
East for their softness, durability, and the beauty of their
colours. The Goats which yield the wool are chiefly derived
from Thibet ; Cashmere itself being too warm for the growth
of the finest wool. The Goats of Thibet and the neighbour-
ing countries have been introduced into Europe, in the hope
of producing the fine wool which gives them so great a value
in their native clime. In France especially, eager endeavours
were made to establish the manufacture of shawls similar to
those of Cashmere ; but from the small quantity of wool
yielded by the Goats, and the great manual labour required,
the manufacture did not succeed as a branch of national
industry. Attempts, too, were made to introduce these Goats,
for the production of wool, into England, but with still less
prospect of a favourable result, from the humidity of the
climate. The native -country of these Goats, it is to be
observed, being vastly elevated, is subject to extremes of
temperature ; and the growth of fine wool being a natural
provision for keeping the animals warm, it would probably
soon cease to be produced in more temperate climates.

Stretching from the mountains of Thibet into the elevated
steppes of the interior, northward to the Arctic Regions,
eastward through Chinese Tartary to the ocean, and westward
through the vast dominions of Russia to the confines of Europe.

* Tour in the Upper Provinces of Hindostan.

14 THE GOAT.

the Goats of the settled inhabitants and nomadic tribes
are in prodigious numbers. These Goats are thickly covered
with long coarse hair, usually of a dark hue ; but in the cul-
tivated countries, they vary greatly in colour and other cha-
racters. In the northern provinces of China, there are Goats,
of a small size, which yield wool as abundantly as the sheep
of the same country. Extending over the varied surface of
Hindostan, the Goats assume a prodigious diversity of colour,
aspect, and form. Sometimes they have horns, and some-
times they are destitute of horns ; sometimes they have long
pendulous ears ; sometimes they have a short fur, like that
of a fawn, and sometimes fine silky hair falling in glossy
ringlets on each side of the dorsal line. The largest of the
Goats of Hindostan are brought from Caubul, Thibet, and the
high lands of Persia.

In the Turkish dominions in Asia, the races of Goats are
greatly varied, and often very beautiful. The Goat of Angora
is the native of a district of Asia Minor, and is remarkable
for its long waving silky hair, which is spun into threads, of
which a kind of camblet is made, esteemed beyond all other
cloths of the East for its durability. The Goats of Angora
have been brought to France, where they have become readily
naturalized, and do not appear to be more tender than the
common kinds. They have been carried likewise to Sweden ?
and other parts of Europe ; but it may be believed that, after
a time, they will lose that peculiar softness of the hair which
characterises them in their native country. The soil of An-
gora is a chalky marl, which seems to have the property of
communicating to the animals that live upon it a silky tex-
ture of the hair. The Dog and Cat of the same country are
distinguished by the glossy softness of their fur, and are very
beautiful.

Of the other Goats of Asiatic Turkey, one is so peculiar,
that it is plainly to be referred to an origin distinct from that
of the Common Goats. It is frequently termed the Syrian
Goat, though it is not confined to Syria, but extends, by the

HISTORY. 15

countries of the Euphrates, into Arabia, and, with some slight
change of characters, into Upper Egypt and Nubia. This
kind of Goat was known to the ancients, who mention it by
the name of the Syrian, and sometimes of the Damascus Goat.
It is generally without horns, has the face singularly con-
vex, long pendulous ears, delicate limbs, and short hair,
usually brown. The mammae of the females hang almost to
the ground. These Goats are more docile than any other,
and, yielding a large quantity of milk, are greatly valued in
the arid countries over which they are spread. The same
form of the Goat appears in Hindostan, and doubtless in
other countries of Eastern Asia. In Nepaul a beautiful Goat
is domesticated, which so much resembles the Syrian that
both appear to be derived from a common stock. It is of a
slender form, with a convex face, without horns, and with
long pendulous ears, which are generally white, or of a paler
tint than the rest of the body.

Africa abounds in Goats as well as Sheep. Along the
Barbary coast, the Goats are very fine, resembling those of
Greece, and other countries of the Mediterranean. From this
country the Romans derived their choicest breeds. But
southward of the mountains which bound the great basin
of the Mediterranean, Nature presents a new aspect, and
beyond the great Sahara, every living thing, up to man him-
self, seems changed. But of the Goats of the interior we
learn little from the casual notices of travellers. We are
told only that Goats are very numerous, and often so nearly
resemble Sheep, that the one might be mistaken for the other.
On the coasts of Guinea, however, the cruel visits of Europeans
have made us acquainted with a race of Goats, which differ
from any other known to us. They are of diminutive size, very
pretty, with short pricked-up ears, and generally with slender
falcated horns. They have been carried by the slave-ships
to the settlements of the Spaniards and Portuguese in Ame
rica, and to the West India Islands, and they have multiplied
and remained distinct from the other races.

1C) THE GOAT.

Of the Goats of Europe, the most varied and beautiful are
those which inhabit the countries of the Mediterranean.
They have generally horns, long flowing beards, and hair of
divers colours, from inilk-white to black. Those of Greece
and the Islands of the Archipelago have been in esteem from
early times. The writers of Greece refer to the Achaian, as
a breed greatly valued The Romans cultivated the Goats
largely, and their rustic writers give us numerous details
regarding the modes of rearing and treating them. In
modern Italy, Goats are very numerous, especially in Cala-
bria and the mountainous countries. They abound likewise
in Spain and Portugal, where they are cultivated chiefly for
their milk, and the flesh of the kids. The Goats there are
to be seen driven into the cities in the morning, and milked
at the doors of the houses. In France, there are consider-
able numbers of Goats, but of no peculiar beauty of race. A
strong prejudice exists against them on account of the injury
they cause to the vines and forests. The district in France
most celebrated for Goats is the Canton of Mont d'Or, where,
in a space not exceeding two leagues at its largest diameter,
upwards of eleven thousand are kept, chiefly for the supply
of the city of Lyons with cheese. In the northern countries
of Europe, Goats are in considerable numbers ; but for the
most part they are inferior in size and beauty to those of the
countries of the Mediterranean. In the heathy mountains
they become of small size, and are covered with a shaggy
coat of long brown hair. Sometimes they have escaped from
servitude, and become as wild and difficult to be approached
as the Deer of the same countries.

The Goat, though obeying the law to which all the domesti-
cated animals are subject, and presenting itself under a great
variety of aspect, retains many of the characters and habits
which distinguish it in the state of liberty. It is lively,
ardent, robust, capable of enduring the most intense cold, and
seemingly little incommoded by the extremes of heat. It is
wild, irregular, and erratic in its movements. It is bold in

HISTORY. 17

its own defence, putting itself in an attitude of defiance when
provoked by animals, however larger than itself. Its horns
turning outward at the points, it rises when it fights upon its
hinder legs, and throwing the weight of its body sidewise,
endeavours to maim its enemy by oblique strokes of the horns.
The Ram, on the other hand, whose horns are turned inward,
cannot use this method of attack, but rushes blindly upon his
enemy, endeavouring to stun him by the violence of the shock ;
while the Bull must lower his head to the very ground, in
order that he may receive his adversary on the points of his
horns. A dog that will despise a ram, and assail a bull, is
frequently cowed by the peculiar mode of attack and bold de-
meanour of the Goat. The domesticated Goat, like those of
the wild species, is capable of nicely balancing its body; and
its hoofs being widely cleft, moveable, and sharp at the exte-
rior edges, it possesses the faculty of fixing itself on the shelv-
ing edges of rocks, and of leaping from crag to crag. The
Arabs teach a curious feat to their Goats, which manifests the
wonderful power in the animals of balancing the body. A
cylinder of wood is placed on the ground, on the top of which
the Goat places all his feet ; another piece is then added, on
which the animal likewise mounts ; and then another^ and
another, until he stands at the summit of the column. When
two Goats meet on a narrow ledge of rock, or the top of a
high wall, the one crouches down, that the other may pass
over his body, The Goat, obeying his pristine instincts, de-
lights in high places, climbs to the tops of walls and houses,
and leaps over the barriers intended to confine him. When
kept in herds, individuals continually stray from the flock,
and station themselves on the heights. In feeding, the flock
gradually ascends to the higher grounds, preferring the
shrubs and aromatic plants of the mountains to the richer
herbage of the plains. Goats will eat of many bitter and
narcotic plants which other animals reject, nay, of some
which are deemed poisonous, as the hemlock and foxglove.
They gnaw the bark, and crop the tender shoots, of shrubs

18 THE GOAT.

and trees ; and hence they are the pest of the cultivated
country, destroying the hedges, the woods, and orchards of
the planter. In the countries of the vine, they are regarded
as enemies whose trespasses must be curbed by the severest
means. When mingled in the flock with Sheep, the Goats
invariably assume the guidance of their more timorous com-
panions, leading them from the richer pastures to the more
steril hills. When the Goat is kept apart from the flock, he
becomes attached to his protectors, familiar and inquisitive,
finding his way into every place, and examining whatever is
new to him. He is eminently social, attaching himself to
other animals, however different from himself. He is fre-
quently kept in stables, under the belief that he contributes
to the health of the horses. The effect, if any, is probably
to be ascribed to his familiar habits, it being known that
horses in their stalls are fond of companions to cheer their
solitude. The Goat is frequently attached to the little car-
riages of children, and appears to delight in the gay equipage,
and capricious commands, of the youthful charioteers. Two
children, in London, having escaped from their nurse, seated
themselves in their tiny vehicle, and set off, whip in hand,
along the Strand, The Goat, apparently enjoying the frolic,
carried them full tilt through the most crowded parts of the
city, nicely avoiding every obstacle, and foiling every attempt
of the passengers to arrest him. Having satiated himself
and his young masters with their morning's drive, he brought
them back to their home in safety.

The female of the Goat produces, in the natural state, in
spring ; but when food is supplied to her, she will receive the
male at almost any season. She goes with young upwards
of twenty weeks, and is very prolific, generally producing
two at a birth, and often breeding twice in the year. The
Kids are exceedingly hardy, and the most sportive of animals.
The mother watches them with tender care, protecting them
from every assailant. She yields a large quantity of milk in
proportion to her size, a common produce being two quarts in

HISTORY.

the day for five or six months. Her milk is viscid and nourish-
ing, little productive of oil, but abundant in the matter of
cheese. She allows herself to be milked without reluctance,
and readily adopts other animals, and nurses them as if they
were her own. When she has suckled such animals as the
foal and the calf, it is interesting to observe how she attaches
herself to them, and still watches over their safety, when
their own habits cause them to separate themselves from her.
In India, the children of the Hindoos, who have lost their
parent, are frequently suckled by Goats. Travellers report
that, in the countries of the Negroes, this is very frequent.
The Goat comes to the cradle where the infants lie, and ma-
nifests the utmost tenderness towards them ; nay, when they
are able to walk and play, she does not forget her maternal
cares, but follows them as if to keep them from harm.

The Goat, besides the milk of the female, affords hair,
which is shorn from the body, and made into certain coarse
fabrics of the nature of camblets. Of this substance are
formed the tents of the Arabs, of the Turcomans, and of all
the migratory tribes of the Tartar countries. The hair of
the Goat is likewise fabricated into ropes. With such ropes,
the hardy natives of St Kilda used to swing themselves over
the dreadful precipices of their coasts, in search of the eggs
of sea-fowls. The skin of the Goat is made into leather,
which is more useful and durable than that of Sheep. It
forms the fine Morocco leather of commerce, and is largely
used,, for sandals, boots, gaiters, and similar parts of dress.
In the countries of the East, the skin is likewise made into
bags, for containing water, wine, and oil ; and on many rivers,
as the Nile and Euphrates, it is made into bags, for floating*
the inhabitants across the stream. The skin of the kid is in
universal demand for the manufacture of gloves. The flesh
of the kid, when very young, is nearly as delicate as that of
the lamb. The flesh of the older Goats is hard and ill-
flavoured, and therefore always gives place to that of the
Sheep, as countries become cultivated.

20 THE GOAT.

In the British Islands, the number of Goats has been con-
tinually diminishing, with the extension of sheep, and the
progress of agriculture. In the Highlands of Scotland, they
used to be very numerous, but are now confined to a few of
the remoter districts, where their milk is employed for the
making of cheese. Wales long abounded in Goats : they are
now in small and decreasing numbers, and the finer and
larger kinds have been lost. But in Ireland, there are still
great numbers of Goats, scattered throughout the country,
and kept by the poorer inhabitants for supplying them with
milk. The Goats of Ireland are many of them very fine : those
of Kerry and the other mountain districts, resemble the best
Goats of the Mediterranean, and even exceed them in size.

In this country, it is chiefly for the supply of the domestic
dairy that the Goat can be regarded as of economical value.
This arises from the want of demand for the flesh, even for
that of the kid, which is so delicate. Were it otherwise, the
Goat could be cultivated in the mountainous parts of the
country with perhaps greater advantage than the Sheep.
The hair of the Goat is indeed less valuable than wool, yet
the skin is of greater value than that of the Sheep. The
animals, too, are more hardy, and exempt from those fatal
diseases which yearly destroy so great a proportion of the
Sheep of the higher countries. The Goat, too, is more easily
maintained, especially in countries of heath, and the females
are more prolific. But an insurmountable objection exists to
the extension of the husbandry of the Goat, from the want of
all demand for the flesh of the fattened animal. Yet if the
caprice of taste could be reconciled to the use of the kid, the
Goat could be kept for the rearing of her young as a substi-
tute for the house-lambs, now produced at so much cost.
The females, in this case, «could be made to yield their kids at
any season. They could be kept in houses and fed on the
commonest hay, with occasional portions of turnips or green
food of any kind. They could be maintained at less expense
than the Sheep ; and as they are more prolific, and yield a

HISTORY.

large supply of milk after the kids are taken away, the profit
would certainly be greater than from the ewe under the same
circumstances. But as the hahits of a people, with respect to
food, cannot without great difficulty be changed, it is probable
that, in these Islands, the Goat will continue to be only par-
tially cultivated, as now, for the milk of the female. But for
this purpose its value, as a source of household economy, is
much greater than many imagine. Families who keep a
single cow would find a Goat or two always useful, as sup-
plying milk when that of the other was wanting ; and expe-
rience shews, that the humbler cottagers would derive a profit
from having one or two of these animals, which could be
maintained on food which the cow would reject. Persons
even in large towns could, by means of the Goat, readily sup-
ply themselves with milk far superior to that which they can
now obtain ; and it is surprising that a method so simple, of
avoiding the frauds too much practised in the case of this
kind of food, should be neglected. Goats bear well the
motion and confinement of shipboard, and are better fitted
for supplying milk on sea-voyages than any other animal.

SOUTH DOWN EWE AND LAMB.

II. THE SHEEP.

The OVINE FAMILY, it has been seen, differs so little in
conformation from the Caprine, that zoological characters can
scarcely be found to discriminate them. Yet, in every coun-
try where these animals are known, they are separated in
popular language, shewing that each possesses habitudes
and external characters sufficient to distinguish it from the
other. Sheep have the bodies more massive, and deviate
more from the Antelopian type, than Goats ; the horns, where
they exist, are generally more angular, furrowed, and spiral ;
and the rams are destitute of the hircine odour. Of the spe-

HISTORY. 23

cies of true Sheep which have been found in the state of na-
ture, those most generally admitted into zoological systems
are : —

1. Ovis AMMON, the Argali of Asia.

2. Ovis MONTANA, the Rocky-Mountain Sheep.

3. Ovis TRAGELAPHUS, the Bearded Argali.

4. Ovis MUSIMON, the Musmon.

•

The ARGALI of ASIA is somewhat less than the size of a stag.
He has enormous horns, measuring about a foot in circum-
ference at the base, and from three to four feet in length,
triangular, rising from the summit of the head so as nearly
to touch at the root, ascending, stretching out laterally, and
bending forward at the point. He has a fur of short hair,
covering a coat of soft white wool. The colour of the fur
externally is brown, becoming brownish-gray in winter : there
is a buff-coloured streak along the back, and a large spot of
a lighter buff colour pn the haunch, surrounding and in-
cluding the tail. The female differs from the male in being
smaller, in having the horns more slender and straight, and
in the absence of the disc on the haunch. In both sexes the
tail is very short, the eye-lashes are whitish, and the hair
beneath the throat is longer than on other parts of the body.

These creatures inhabit the mountains and elevated plains
of Asia, from the Himmalaya Mountains westward to the
Caucasus, and eastward and northward to Kamschatka and
the Ocean. They are agile and strong, but very timid, shun-
ning the least appearance of danger : their motion is zigzag,
and they stop in their course to gaze upon their pursuer, after
the manner of the domestic Sheep. They are usually found
in very small flocks ; and, at the rutting season, the males
fight desperately, using their horns and forehead in the man-
ner of the common ram. They are hunted by the people of
the countries for their flesh, which is esteemed to be savoury,
and for their skins, which are made into clothing. In autumn,
after having pastured during the summer on the mountains

24 THE SHEEP.

and secluded valleys, they are fat, and in request ; but as
winter advances, and they are forced to descend from the
mountains in search of food, they lose their plumpness, and
are sought after only for their skins. When taken young
they are easily tamed, but the old ones never resign their
natural wildness.

The ROCKY-MOUNTAIN SHEEP, or Argali of America, is
allied to this species, or identical with it. It inhabits the
loftiest mountain chains of North America. It was long
ago described by Spanish writers as the Sheep of California,
and is familiar to the Indians and fur-traders of Canada.
It equals or surpasses the Asiatic' Argali in size, and is taller
than the largest of our Domestic Sheep. Its horns are very
large, approaching, but not touching, one another at the base.
The horns of the female are small, and slightly curved. The
fur is of a reddish-brown colour, but becomes paler in winter,
and in spring the old rams are nearly white. The face and
nose are white, and the tail and buttocks present the buff-
coloured disc which distinguishes the male of the Asiatic
species. They collect in flocks, under the guidance of a
leader. They pasture on the steepest parts of the moun-
tains, and on the approach of winter descend into the plains.
They are wild and timid, betaking themselves on the least
alarm to the summits of the mountains. They are pursued
and killed by the Indians for their flesh and skins, and have
never been subjected to domestication.

The BEARDED ARGALI inhabits the inland steeps of Barbary
and the mountains of Egypt. It is larger than a fallow deer,
and nearly equal in size to a stag. The horns are thirteen
inches in circumference at the base, approaching near to one
another on the top of the head, angular, black, bending back-
wards and downwards, and about two feet in length. The
hair on the lower part of the cheeks and under-jaw is long,
forming a divided beard. The under part of the neck and
shoulders is covered by coarse hair ; on the upper part of the
neck, and especially at the withers, the hair is long and

HISTORY. 25

bristly, forming a mane ; the knees are covered by long
dense hairs, as if to protect them when the animal kneels ;
the hair on the rest of the body is short, and underneath the
whole is the rudiment of a soft fine wool. It is a gentle and
petulant creature, fond of ascending to high places, as the
roofs of houses, capable of running swiftly, and of bounding
with prodigious force.

The MUSMON inhabits the lofty regions of the Caucasus
and ancient Taurus, and still lingers in the islands of Crete
and Cyprus, and the mountains of Greece. It is smaller than
the Argali. In the male the horns are two feet in length ;
in the female they are often wanting. They are very thick,
and they turn inward at the points, in which respect they
differ from the horns of the Argali, which bend outward.
The fur consists of a brownish hair, concealing a short, fine,
gray-coloured wool, which covers all the body.

The Musmons, although resembling the Argalis, are small-
er and less powerful, and inhabit, apparently, a lower range
of mountains. They are gregarious, assembling in large
flocks during the summer months ; but, at the rutting season,
fierce contests take place between the rams, and the herd
divides into smaller bands, consisting of a male and several
females. These animals are readily domesticated, and exhi-
bit all the habits of the Domestic Sheep, although, in the first
generation at least, they do not entirely resign their natural
wildness. They breed freely with the Domestic Sheep, and
the offspring is fruitful. Pliny mentions such alliances as be-
ing common, and states that the progeny were termed Umbri.

A species, or variety, termed by M. G. St Hilaire, Mou-
flon d'Afrique, appears to resemble the Musmon of Asia
and Europe. It has been found on the mountains bordering
upon the plain of the Nile. It is about the size of a com-
mon ram. The horns are two feet long, and eleven inches
in circumference at the base, diverging outwards, so that the
extremities are about nineteen inches from one another.

Another species of Musmon, or an animal nearly allied to

26 THE 311JSK1'.

it, has been found in Nepaul, both on the Indian and Thibe-
tian sides of the snowy crests of the Himmalayas. It is de-
scribed as having horns twenty-two inches along the curve,
diverging greatly, but scarcely spiral ; and as having fur of
a bluish-gray colour inclining to red, the hairs concealing a
scanty fleece of fine soft wool.*

These are the wild species of Ovidse which have as yet been
described. But there is just reason to believe that others
exist, although as yet too imperfectly known to be placed in
the catalogues of naturalists. It is certain that Wild Sheep,
approaching even more to the characters of certain domesti-
cated races, exist in the immense countries bordering on the
Hindoo Koosh, namely, Caubul, and the countries of the Tur-
comans, Persians, and others, towards the Caspian. One of
these is described by Mr Fraser, in his interesting travels in
these wild countries, as having been killed by the hunters of
his party, and as being a fine animal, equal in size, and supe-
rior in strength, to the largest of the common races. It pro-
bably resembles a race of Sheep widely domesticated in the
same countries, which has by some been termed the Persian
breed, but which is to be distinguished from another race, to
be afterwards referred to, found in the same country, and
likewise termed Persian. The Sheep in question are covered
with a very coarse hairy fur of a gray colour. Their horns .are
bent outward in the manner of the Argali, and, what is worthy
of note, the head entirely resembles that of the Ram, as it is
depicted on Eastern sculptures. This domesticated race is
very widely diffused, extending to the Tartar countries inland ;
to Arabia, where it forms the most common breed of the Be-
douins ; and across the Indus over a great part of Hindostan.

Ancient writers, too, speak of Wild Sheep, but with notices
so indistinct, that no conclusions can be founded upon them.
It is not certainly known whether Wild Sheep existed in the
west of Europe. Boetius, a chronicler extremely credulous,

* Proceedings of the Zoological Society, and the Asiatic Transactions.

HISTORY. 27

yet worthy of trust as to what he says he heard or saw,
mentions the existence of a race of Wild Sheep in the deso-
late island of St Kilda. He describes them as being larger
than the largest goats, and as having tails hanging to the
ground, and horns more bulky than those of the ox ; and, ac-
cording to Mr Pennant, an animal corresponding with this
description is figured on a bas-relief taken from the wall of
Antoninus, near the modern city of Glasgow.

Looking at the vast diversities in the Sheep of different
and distant countries, and the constancy with which certain
races preserve their distinctive characters under the same
conditions of temperature, food, and treatment, we are
conducted to the conclusion, that Wild Sheep proper to
different countries have been domesticated by the inhabi-
tants ; and, accordingly, that the domesticated races are
not of one, but of various species, having the property of
procreating with one another in the reclaimed state. The
same hypothesis, we have seen, has been applied to the Goat,
there being no other which satisfactorily explains the per-
manent differences which races of those animals exhibit
under the same conditions from age to age. A like suppo-
sition, we shall see in the sequel, must be made in the case
of the Dog, in order to enable us to account for those great
variations which the domesticated races present in almost
every country. The opinion, wre shall see, that may most
reasonably be entertained regarding the origin of the Do-
mestic Dogs, is, that they are descended from the Wolf and
other Canidse yet found in the wild state ; and there is no
more difficulty in assuming the derivation of the Sheep than
of the Dog from species yet existing in the state of nature,
since the habits and forms of the Argalis and Musmons as
nearly resemble the cultivated Sheep as the Wolf and other
species of Canis resemble the common breeds of Dogs. Even
the blood of the Goat, though of a species admitted, under
every zoological system, to be distinct, has certainly been

28 THE SHEEP.

mixed with that of the Sheep of various countries. Sheep
and Goats, indeed, when left free to select their own mates,
do not breed together, but the union is readily produced
when the males of one species only are present at the rutting
season ; and it has been long known to shepherds, though
questioned by naturalists, that the resulting progeny is fruit-
ful. Breeds of this mixed race are numerous in the north
of Europe, and can scarcely have failed to take place in every
country where Sheep and Goats are herded together.

We may believe, then, that the Domesticated Sheep, the
Ovis ARIES of naturalists, is a factitious species, and not one
which has been called forth in the natural state. A species
of this kind, however, having been formed, by whatever mix-
tures of blood, the members of it must have been subject, like
every other family mixed or pure, to vary under the influence
of external agencies ; and thus, independently of the differ-
ences produced by differences of origin, there are those which
have been produced by climate, food, and domestication, giv-
ing rise to those great varieties which, even under the nar-
rowest geographical limits, present themselves.

From whatever sources derived, these valuable animals,
we know, have been subjected to servitude from the earliest
times. The most ancient written records of the Southern
Asiatics refer to the Domesticated Sheep ; and he is figured
on the oldest monuments of the past, which time has left us,
in Western Asia. On the sculptured remains of Egypt,
the Sheep continually appears, and of a form which we can
identify with that of the same animal still existing. The
Sacred Writings record its existence along with the first
known inhabitants of the earth ; and the flocks and herds of
the wandering Shepherds of the East, are described with a
minuteness, which enables us to compare the pursuits of the
most ancient people with those of the inhabitants of the same
countries at the present hour. Scarcely any thing seems to
have changed in the habits of men in those countries of pas-

HISTORY. 29

toral tribes. Where Abraham pitched his tent, with his
" sheep and oxen,'' and " asses and camels," — where he sat
at the door of his tent, — where the stone was rolled from the
wells from which his maidens drew water, — there the Arab
or the wandering Turcoman encamps, and all the scene is
like a vivid panorama of the past. In the case of the present
people of the Desert, — their tents, their journeyings, their
household cares, their flocks, their camels, their wells, — all
inform us with what a matchless fidelity the Sacred History
has been told.

Of the Sheep, we learn that its fleece was used by the
Shepherds of Syria for the purposes to which it is now ap-
plied, and that it was shorn from the skin, " Then Jacob
rose up and set his sons and his wives upon camels ; and he
carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had
gotten, the cattle of his getting which he had got in Padan-
aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan :
And Laban went to shear his sheep." * " And Judah was
comforted, and went up unto his sheep-shearers at Zim-
nath."t And at a long subsequent period, when the de-
scendants of Judah had become a nation, and acquired the
Land of Promise, the season of sheep- shearing is referred to
as one of rustic labour. Further the wool was woven into
cloth, which infers an advancement beyond the ruder stages
of the arts. The mere barbarian uses, for raiment, the skin
of the Sheep or Goat, with its covering of hair, as was prac-
tised by the Scythians, by the Gauls and Britons, and at the
present day by the Kalmuks and other nomadic people of
Asia, and by the Hottentots and other inhabitants of Southern
Africa. When cloth is made by barbarous tribes, it is simply
by pressing the wool together in a moist state, so as to form
felt, as we yet see done in the case of hats and beavers ; by

* Genesis, xxxi. 17, 18, 19 : And it is worthy of note, that the undergoing
of a period of servitude to acquire a wife, recorded in the history to which
these passages refer, exists at the present day amongst a wild trihe in the heart
of India, which is designated by the term Laban-a.

t Genesis, xxxviii. 12.

30 HISTORY.

which means the fibres adhere, and become intertwined in
such a manner as to form a species of cloth ; and of this
simple manufacture were the woollen garments of the rude
people in the north of Asia and Europe. The use of the dis-
taif and the shuttle infers a considerable advancement in the
arts. Yet at this stage, we know, by indubitable records,
the wandering tribes of Syria had arrived, long ere the golden
fleece had been acquired by Jason, or ere Minerva had com-
municated to her Athenians the gifts of spinning and weaving.
And besides the spindle and the simple loom of the East, the
Syrian Shepherds had, from early times, acquired the know-
ledge of the art of communicating to their cloths and gar-
ments those beautiful colours which so much please the eye.
The fondness of a parent, and his gift of a many-coloured
garment to a favoured child, gave rise to a tale which, in
beauty and pathos, cannot be surpassed; and even yet,
amongst the people of India, the practice exists of giving to
a favourite boy a garment of many colours, as a charm
against evil. The flesh of the Sheep was likewise used, but
with that temperance which still distinguishes the people of
those countries in the use of animal food. It was from the
milk of their flocks that they derived the chief part of their
daily food. They understood the art of curdling the milk of
their goats and ewes ; and cheese and butter, with fat and
honey, formed the simple repasts of these early shepherds,
as of the Kurds, the Turcomans, and Arabs, of the present
day.

Domestication renders the Sheep more suited to our uses,
but diminishes his physical powers, and adapts him to another
condition of life. When once completely subjugated, he never
again appears to acquire the faculties which fit him for a life
of liberty. Give him afterwards what freedom we may, he
remains more or less dependent upon us, and would fall a
prey to wolves, and the swifter ferse, were he not under
human protection. Yet he is not the stupid and insensible
creature which some represent him to be. When entirely

HISTORY. 31

subdued, indeed, his natural instincts are blunted, and he
loses the providence and sense of danger which are natural
to him ; but when left in a state of comparative liberty, as on
the mountains of Scotland and Wales, he shews that, though
comparatively feeble, he is not without the power of guard-
ing himself from danger. When attacked by dogs or foxes,
the flock forms a circle, with the rams in front, presenting a
face to the enemy. The rams rush forward on the assailant,
and strike him with their powerful horns ; and in their con-
tests with one another for the possession of the females, they
fight with amazing determination, stunning one another with
the violence of the shocks. The Sheep is an exceedingly hardy
animal with respect to temperature, his close covering of wool
defending him well from cold. He foresees an impending fall
of snow, and takes shelter from its violence. When buried
underneath the snow, as he sometimes is, he often survives
for many days, and even weeks, and may be digged up with-
out injury, provided he have escaped suffocation ; for in such*
a situation, his thick fleece, which, as well as the snow, is a
slow conductor of heat, retains the natural warmth of the body
in such a degree as to preserve life. The ewe bears that affec-
tion to her offspring which Nature has imprinted, as it were,
on the heart of every animal. Should mishap befal her young
one, she mourns over it, and will not be comforted: should it
wander from her side, her anxious bleatings are everywhere
heard ; and the little creature rewards her cares with surpris-
ing fondness. Who that has seen shearing of the flock, has not
marked the startled aspect of the lamb when the mother first
runs toward it divested of her covering, and how quickly it is
reassured, and how sensibly it expresses its joy. when it hears
the well-known voice, and receives the wonted caresses ! The
Sheep appears insensible and stupid, because it is rarely at-
tached to us by acts of familiarity and kindness. But let the
orphan lamb be brought up at the shepherd's cot, and fed
from his hand, and we shall find it to be nearly as fami-
liar as a dog, — fond of being caressed, and unwilling to leave

32 THE SHEEP.

its protector to join its fellows of the flock. In countries
where the shepherd guides his flock, and does not herd it by
dogs in the manner practised in other places, the docility
which the animals acquire is wonderfully great. Where the
shepherd leads they follow ; they observe his motions and
hear his voice, and when he uses a pipe or horn, they listen
to the well-known sound, and obey the signal. In the Alps
of Switzerland^ and in the mountainous parts of Italy, in
Greece, and elsewhere, we are yet charmed with this rem-
nant of pastoral simplicity and innocence. The shepherd
boy knows all his little favourites, — he remembers their
names, and, when called, they leave the flock and come to
him. When the numbers are great, he selects a few, teaches
them their simple lesson, and they become the guides of the
rest to their allotted pastures, and learn to collect the wan-
derers. The music of the mountain shepherd we find to be
no poetic fiction. In the mountains of the South, we yet
hear the soft and artless tones of his pipe. In the morning
he leads forth his little flock, and plays as he marches at their
head, and at sunset returns in like manner to the fold, where
he pens them, that they may be kept from the wolves.

The fur of the Sheep consists partly of hair, but essentially
of wrool. In cold, moist.) and elevated countries, the hair
often becomes so long as to cover the wool ; and when the
wool falls off in the early part of summer, the covering of
hair remains to protect the animal. In warm countries, the
wool is often scarcely developed, and nearly the whole coat
is of hair, just as in the case of the Deer, the Antelope, and
the Goat ; yet this is not always the case, even in the warmer
countries, in which the fur is sometimes fleecy, soft, and thin.
Often the wool is long, and the filaments thick, without being
hairy, as in the case of the Sheep of the richer plains of Eng-
land ; sometimes it is short, fine, and curling, as in the case
of the Mountain Sheep of Spain. We can sometimes trace
the influence of climate in modifying the characters of wool,
but often it is affected by causes which we are unable to dis-

HISTORY, 33

cover. It is often affected by domestication and artificial
treatment. The difference in the character of wool renders
it more or less valuable, and more or less suited to different
manufactures. Thus, the long thick wool of the Sheep of the
plains of England is suited to the manufacture of flannels ;
that of the South Down, Ry eland, and Merino breeds, to the
fabrication of cloths ; that of the Blackfaced Heath Sheep of
Scotland, to the making of carpets and coarser stuffs. The
colour of the wool of Sheep is yet less dependent upon any
known causes than its texture, length, or fineness. Some-
times it is black, sometimes it is gray, sometimes it is brown,
and in other cases it is white, or partly black and partly
white. We know no law which determines these colours.
There is reason to believe that the colour of the fleece in the
earlier Sheep tended to the darker colours rather than to the
lighter, as it yet does in Sheep that are left long in their
natural state. But the white colour came to be more valued,
as being more agreeable to the eye, but chiefly because white
wool is better fitted to receive those bright and beautiful
colours which we are enabled to communicate by the dyeing
process. But the desire to obtain white wool being formed,
it was easy to procure white Sheep, by using males and
females for breeding which were possessed of that colour.

With respect to the races of Sheep which have been domes-
ticated in different countries, a diversity so great is presented
in the form and size of the animals, nature of the fleece, and
other characters, that nothing beyond the most general classi-
fication can be made when we refer to Sheep extended over
many and distant countries.

Looking to Asia, which may be considered as the cradle of
the principal domesticated races, it may be said that there
are two groups of cultivated Sheep, each, however, compre-
hending innumerable breeds ; — first, those with flat tails
naked underneath ; and, secondly, those with long round
tails covered with wool. The Flat- tailed races have a won-
derfully wide range, extending from Caubul northwards to

3± THE SHEEP.

near the Arctic Circle, eastward through the boundless wilds
of Chinese Tartary, and westward through Persia into Asia
Minor and Syria. In the higher latitudes of Asia, the same
character is retained ; but the Sheep themselves become di-
minutive, and the tail is small, and carried upwards in the
manner of the Goat. The small Sheep with this character
have been regarded by naturalists as a variety or class,
which has been termed Brevi-cauda. In the more tem-
perate latitudes, the flat tail becomes long, and, in certain
countries, is loaded with fat, so as to form a great part of
the weight of the animal. This peculiarity is the most deve-
loped in the Sheep of the countries of the Euphrates, in Asia
Minor, Syria, and part of Arabia ; where, when the animals
receive rich food, or are kept in pens and houses, the tail
becomes of such large dimensions, that it trails upon the
ground, so that it is frequently supported by little sledges to
keep it from incommoding the animal. The Sheep having
these broad fat tails are frequently designated the Syrian
Breed, and are sometimes brought to England under the
name of Turkish Sheep. Aristotle, Pliny, and others, refer
to them ; and there is reason to believe, from certain no-
tices in the Levitical laws, that they were the kind of Sheep
cultivated by the ancient Jews. They are a very valuable
race in the countries which produce them. The large tail,
weighing sometimes of itself 40 or 50 lb., is greatly valued,
and the fat is used along with other food as butter or oil.
The ewes are prolific, producing twice in the year, and yield-
ing a larger quantity of milk than any other known race of
Sheep.

But towards the countries of the Caspian Sea, a remarkable
deviation from this form occurs. The tail becomes short, or
rudimental, and the fat accumulates on the haunches, form-
ing two great cushions. This character is chiefly observed
in the Sheep of the countries bordering on the Caspian, and
the great saline lake of Aral, becoming less prominent as we
recede from the immense basin which contains these seas,

HISTORY. 35

and ultimately disappearing. It has been conjectured that
the character itself arises from the Sheep feeding on the bit-
ter and saline plants found in these countries ; and it is said,
that when they are removed from the places in which these
plants grow, the fatty excrescence becomes less. It may
justly be assumed, indeed, that this character is the result of
peculiarities of food, although we cannot determine physiolo-
gically in what manner the effect is produced. The Sheep
in which this singular character appears have been regarded
as a natural variety, and termed Steatopyga.

The races of Sheep, again, having round tails covered with
wool, are widely diffused over the Asiatic Continent. From
this group of breeds the finest wool is produced, though, in
the greater number of them, the wool is extremely coarse,
and largely mixed with hairs. Some of them are of a large
size, as in Thibet, where they are employed for carrying bur-
dens. The Sheep of the Tartars may be referred in part to
this group, and in part to the broad-tailed. The Tartar Sheep
are remarkably strong and hardy, but, for the most part, of
bad farmland covered with coarse wool. But when we speak
of Tartary, or rather Tahtary, it is to be remembered that
we use a vague term for a region which comprehends a great
part of all Asia, and includes tribes and nations entirely
distinct from one another in speech, customs, and country.
The inhabitants, however, generally agree in this, that they
are rude shepherds, subsisting on the produce of their flocks
and herds, with which they migrate from place to place ;
but their domesticated animals differ greatly with place, so
that the Sheep of the Turcomans and other western Asiatics
are distinct from those of the Kalmuks, Mantchoories, and
others. Towards the Eastern Ocean, comprehending the
fertile plains of China Proper, the Sheep, like the Horses of
the same country, become of small size ; and the same re-
mark applies to those which are found in the luxuriant Islands
of the Eastern Archipelago. Hindostan contains races more
diversified in size, form, and the character of the wool, than

36 THE SHEEP.

those of any other country of Asia of the same extent. The
finest and largest are derived from Caubul and the other
countries westward of the Indus ; towards the more arid re-
gions of the south the Sheep become of diminutive size, and
are in many cases covered with short hair, with scarcely the
vestige of a fleece. Some of the Indian Sheep have very pe-
culiar characters, as the Mysore Breed, the Piirek Breed, and
others.

Africa abounds in Sheep, as in Goats and all the ruminat-
ing tribes. In the countries of the great Mediterranean
basin, comprehending Barbary, from the Atlantic to the de-
serts bordering on Egypt, the races are greatly varied. In
many parts, chiefly in the Regency of Tunis, are found the
Broad-tailed Syrian Sheep. Some are many-horned, having
a coarse fleece. The more common Sheep of the Barbary
States have long limbs, ungainly forms, and shaggy hair.
They have been termed by naturalists the Long-legged Breed
of Africa, which, however, rather indicates a character than
a breed. They have a mixed fur, chiefly of hair ; but towards
the great mountains inland are found races of Sheep entirely
different, covered with a fine wool fitted for the most delicate
fabrics of the loom.

In Abyssinia and the countries of the Red Sea is found a
race of Sheep differing entirely from any existing in Europe,
and which, if we are to pay regard at all to external cha-
racters in discriminating species, must be regarded as a dis-
tinct species. These sheep are covered with short glossy
hair, with scarcely the rudiment of a fleece. They have thick
necks, with well -formed heads. The head, and part of the
throat and neck, are black, and the rest of the body is pure
white, without any tendency to the rufous colour characteris-
tic of our common Sheep. They have short or rudimental
tails, and are destitute of horns ; and the fat accumulates
largely on the buttocks and inside of the thighs. This race is
found in Arabia, and has been carried, by the countries of the
Euphrates, into Persia, whence it has been sometimes erro-

HISTORY. 37

neously termed the Persian Breed, though in no degree pro-
per to Persia. These Sheep thrive on the withered herbage
of the countries they inhabit, and where the Sheep of Europe
would perish. They are found in Madagascar, and along the
south-eastern coast of Africa, together with the broad- tailed
breeds.

Of the races of the boundless countries of the interior of
the African Continent we know scarcely any thing. Travel-
lers, indeed, speak of Sheep as being numerous in the
countries they have traversed, but they give us no characters
by which the races can be discriminated. But in the rich
and pestilential countries of the Negroes of the western
coasts, the Sheep are better known to us. They are in great
numbers, and of characters as distinct from those of Asia
and Europe as other quadrupeds of the same countries.
They are covered with short hair without any wool, and have
tails like those of swine ; and some of them have singular
enlargements on the cheek, throat, and sometimes on the
forehead. They are familiar to the slave-traders, who'carry
them away as sea-stock, along with their human victims.
In the milder countries southward to the extremity of the
Continent, there are large flocks of Sheep reared by such of
the itomadic tribes as their own endless wars and the cruel
avarice of European colonists have spared. The Hottentot
Sheep are of slender forms, resembling foxes rather than
Sheep, and having long tails on which the fat accumulates.
They have been confounded with the broad-tailed Syrian
race, from which they are distinct. They have been long
available to the Indian voyagers as sea-stock ; but they are
of delicate constitution, and frequently perish with the first
gales on quitting the Cape of Storms. Few of them, how-
ever, now exist in the pure state in the territory of the Cape,
a mixed race having been formed by the Dutch and English
colonists.

Turning to Europe, we find the Sheep varying in every
country, and, like the human inhabitants, exhibiting the most

38 THE SHEEP.

marked traces of a mixed descent. It has been questioned
whether the pristine inhabitants of Europe possessed the
domestic Sheep, and did not, like the wild tribes of the North
American forests, live solely by the spoils of the chase. We
cannot resolve this question, because we do not know who
were the pristine inhabitants of Europe. But we have reason
to believe, that the early Celtic and Teutonic nations were in
possession of Sheep, which, indeed, they could hardly have
failed to bring with them in their migrations westward, — the
Teutons from the countries north of the Black Sea and the
Caspian, and the Celts from those other regions of the East
where the Sheep had been cultivated from the first ages.
Yet the greater part of Europe was long a great forest, un-
favourable to the cultivation of Sheep ; and they are rarely
mentioned by early chroniclers. It is a mistake, however,
to contend, as some have done, that Sheep did not find their
way into Western Europe until about the Christian era.
Indisputable proofs to the contrary exist, as in Spain, which
was long before this era inhabited by Sheep, and even in
North Britain, where the remnants of the Celtic Sheep are
still to be found, and where the early language of the people
shews their familiarity with these animals. In the south of
Europe, we may suppose that the Sheep of Asia were added
to those of the pre-existing races. They may be believed
to have found their way into Greece by the Hellespont, with
the introduction of civilization and letters. The Sheep of
Arcadia became at length the boast of Greece ; and innumer-
able allusions in the writings of her poets, historians, and
philosophers, shew us in what estimation this gift cf the Gods
was held. Italy likewise possessed her Sheep from an un-
known period ; but the inhabitants, even up to a period com-
paratively recent, seem to have directed their attention to the
Goat more than to the Sheep. Long after Rome was founded,
the inhabitants had not learned to shear the fleece ; and,
until the time of Pliny, the practice of plucking it from the
skin was not wholly abandoned, so long had the humble shep-

HISTORY. 39

herds of Syria preceded, in their knowledge of necessary arts,
the future conquerors of their country.

In the highest latitudes of Europe are found the short-
tailed Sheep of Northern Asia, which had even found their
way from Scandinavia to the most northerly of the British
Islands, where they still exist. In certain countries, too, of
the north of Europe, are found Polycerate Sheep ; hut the
greater part of the Sheep of Europe are of the common long-
tailed varieties, though manifestly derived from different
sources. For the most part, the Sheep of the richer countries
are larger than those of the poorer ; but this is not without
exception, since, in fertile countries, are found races of Sheep,
which, amidst the most abundant herbage, remain diminutive
in size.

In European Turkey and Greece, the Sheep do not now
correspond with their ancient fame. They are of small size
and indifferent form. They are often of the broad-tailed race
of Asia Minor ; and some of them have the horns twisted like
certain Antelopes, forming the race designated Strepsiceros,
and sometimes termed the Cretan breed. In the Islands of
the Archipelago few Sheep are reared. Some of them are of
the Cretan, some of the Syrian breed, and some of them are
polycerate.

Ascending the Danube, the Sheep are found to be of the
long- tailed varieties, with more or less of the characters of
the Cretan race. The breed of Wallachia may be regarded
as the type of the races which extend through Moldavia,
Transylvania, and westwards towards Vienna. They have
black faces, and long wiry wool, much mixed with hair.

Italy, once so renowned for her Sheep, can now boast
. little . of this production of her bounteous clime. The Ro-
mans, whose dress was woollen, cultivated in an especial
degree the fineness of the fleece ; and it was not until the
days of the Empire that the silk and cotton of the East be-
gan to supersede the ancient raiment of the Roman people.
The finest wools of ancient Italy were produced in Apulia

40 THE SHEEP.

and Calabria, being the eastern parts of the present kingdom
of Naples. Pliny informs us that the best wool was that of
Apulia, on the Adriatic Sea ; that the next best was further
to the south, on the Gulf of Tarentum ; that the Milesian or
Asiatic Sheep carried the third prize ; and that, for white-
ness, there was none better than that produced on the Po.
The care of the Romans in causing the wool to grow fine,
exceeded, in the case of certain breeds, any thing that is
now attempted. The sheep were kept in houses, and con-
tinually clothed, so that the filaments of the wool might be-
come delicate : the skin was smeared with fine oil, and mois-
tened with wine ; the fleece was combed, so that the wool
might not become matted ; and the whole was washed seve-
ral times in the year. Under this artificial treatment the
breed became tender, subject to diseases, voracious of food,
and the females so incapable of nourishing their young,
that many of the lambs were obliged to be destroyed. The
Apulian and Tarentine breeds probably ceased to exist even
before the fall of the Empire, or were swept away by barbar-
ous conquerors, with all the arts of the lovely land. There
are still in Italy many fine-woolled Sheep, but of small bad
form, and ruined by neglect. The same remark applies to
the Sheep of Sicily, which were greatly celebrated for the
fineness of their wool, and which have not yet lost this an-
cient character.

Of all the countries of Europe, Spain has been the longest
distinguished for its Sheep. This fine country, more varied
in its surface and natural productions than any other region
of the like extent in Europe, produces a great variety of
breeds, from the larger animals of the richer plains, to the
smaller races of the higher mountains and arid country.
Besides the difference produced in the Sheep of Spain by
varieties of climate and natural productions, the diversity of
character in the animals may be supposed to have been in-
creased by the different races introduced into it, 1st, from
Asia, by the early Phoenician colonies ; 2d, from Africa, by

WOOL. 41

the Carthaginians, during their brief possession ; 3c?, from
Italy, by the Romans, during their dominion of several hun-
dred years ; and 4M, again from Africa, by the Moors, who
maintained a footing in the country for nearly eight centuries.
The larger Sheep of the plains have long wool, often coloured
brown or black. The Sheep of the mountains, downs, and
arid plains, have short wool, of different degrees of fineness,
and different colours. The most important of 'these latter
races is the Merino, now the most esteemed and widely dif-
fused of all the fine-woolled breeds of Europe.

In the British Islands the races of Sheep present extraor-
dinary diversities of size, form, and other characters, caused,
it may be believed, in part, by a difference of descent, in part
by the long-continued influence of climate, food, and other
agencies, and in part by the effects of breeding and artificial
treatment. But before describing the breeds proper to, or
naturalized in, these Islands, it will be well to direct atten-
tion to the nature of Wool, which forms an important pro-
duction of the Sheep in all countries.

WOOL.

The Hair of animals, of which Wool is a variety, springs
from the cellular tissue, immediately underneath the corion
or true skin. It grows from a soft pulp included in a little
sac, into which nerves and bloodvessels pass from the sur-
rounding tissue. It extends outwards, passing through the
true skin and epidermis in the form of a fine cylinder. It pos-
sesses externally a scaly texture, the laminae pointing in one
direction from the root to the tip, and is protected by an
unctuous secretion. Wool is chiefly distinguished from hair
by its growing in a spiral form, by its greater softness and
pliability,. and by a property to be referred to, by which the
separate filaments adhere under the influence of moisture
and pressure. On account of these properties, wool is

42 THE SHEEP.

greatly better suited than hair for being spun and woven
into cloth.

Hair is often largely mixed with the wool of Sheep, and,
in the wilder races, forms the principal part of the animal's
covering. By frequent shearing of the fleece, the hair di-
minishes in quantity, and the wool is proportionally de-
veloped, until at length, under the influence of continued
domestication, the essential covering of the animal becomes
wool, of greater or less tenuity and softness. In the culti-
vated Sheep of England, hair covers only the face and part
of the limbs, but often hairs are mixed with the wool of
other parts of the body ; and this, as it regards the manu-
facture, is an imperfection, and it is a process of art to
separate the intermixed hairs from the wool.

Generally speaking, the wool of Sheep in these latitudes
is yearly renewed, the older part falling off at the com-
mencement of the warmer season, and it is then that we
anticipate the process of nature by shearing the fleece. But
the wool may be shorn at any time, and, like hair, will grow
again. In this country, however, it is never thought bene-
ficial to shear the wool more than once in the year, and this
at the commencement of the warmer season, when the older
portion is about to fall off. In certain parts of this country,
favourable with respect to the mildness of the climate, the
wool of lambs is shorn ; but the practice is unsuited to a
cold climate, and is only, therefore, very partially pursued.
The wool of lambs employed in the manufactures of this
country is chiefly derived from the skins of animals that
have been killed for the butcher, though largely, also, from
the importation of the skins of lambs with the wool from
other countries.

The wool of different races or families of Sheep is greatly
distinguished by the length of the staple and the tenuity and
softness of the filaments. And not only does the wool of
different Sheep differ in these properties, but the wool of
the same individual is more or less soft and fine, according

WOOL. 43

to the parts of the body from which it is derived. In gene-
ral, the wool becomes less fine, proceeding from the neck
towards the extremities, so that the wool on the breech is
more coarse than that on the back and sides. It is a pro-
cess of art to separate the finer from the coarser parts in an
individual fleece, and this into such number of divisions as
suits the nature of the wool, or the manufacture intended.
The number of these divisions varies from six to ten, or, in
many cases, to a greater number. The fleece being un-
rolled, the workman at his table, with a clear light thrown
upon him, and guided by the eye and touch, culls out the
several locks, as distinguished by the fineness of the fila-
ments. These being put into baskets placed around him,
are afterwards collected into distinct packages ; and thus the
manufacturer is supplied with wool of the peculiar quality
required. This operation is sometimes performed under the
direction of the manufacturers themselves, but more com-
monly by a class of persons termed wool- staplers, who pur-
chase the raw material from the grower, and dispose of it
after being assorted to the manufacturer. The operative
part of the process is one of great nicety, to which men are
trained, as to the other mechanical arts, by a regular ap-
prenticeship.*

Wool is eminently suited to the reception of colours by
the dyeing process, excelling in this respect silk, and much
more cotton, and all other vegetable substances. White
wool receives the colouring matter more readily than black,
the finer parts of the fleece more readily than the coarser,
and the wool of healthy Sheep more readily than that of
those which are unhealthy. The natural colour of wool is
often black, and black filaments are frequently mixed with
the white. The intermixture is regarded as a great defect,
the black filaments being unsuited for the reception of the
brighter and more delicate colours in dyeing. The inter-
mixture of black wool with white is most apt to take place

* Remarks by the Author on Wool, aliunde.

44 THE SHEEP.

in the case of the breeds of Sheep whose legs and faces are
covered with dark hair.

The kinds of wool, as distinguished from one another by
the length of the staple, are termed Long and Short. In this
country the long wools are the produce of the larger Sheep of
the plains, and possess a staple of seven inches and upwards.
The short wools ai;e the produce of the smaller Sheep of the
mountains, dowrns, and generally of the drier or less fertile
country, and have wool of a staple from two to four inches.

Wool is prepared for being spun into thread by two pro-
cesses entirely different in the effect and mode of execution :
the first is termed Combing, and prepares the wool for being
spun into worsted yarn, which is the kind of thread employed
for the stuffs called worsteds ; the second is termed Carding,
and prepares the material for being spun into woollen yarn,
which is the kind of thread suited for the manufacture of
woollen cloths.

In combing, the process consists in dividing the wool by
means of fine steel teeth, acting in the manner of the com-
mon comb on knotted or entangled hair. The comb is kept
hot, and the wool is oiled, in order that it may pass more
easily between the teeth of the comb. In this manner, the
filaments are smoothed and arranged side by side, some-
what in the manner in which the fibres of hemp and flax are
assorted for spinning, and being then drawn out to the de-
gree of tenuity required, are twisted or spun, forming worsted
yarn. The tenuity given to these threads is of every degree,
suited to the various kinds of manufacture, from the thickest
and stoutest substances, to the most delicate articles of
clothing and dress. The fineness to which woollen threads
can be spun almost exceeds belief. It has been computed
that, in ordinary spinning at Norwich, a pound of wool may
be extended to 13,440 yards, or in superfine spinning, to
37,200 yards, or about 22£ miles, so that a fleece yielding
7 lb. would produce a thread of 155 miles in length: and
even this degree of fineness can be exceeded. The exporta-

WOOL. 45

tion of worsted yarn was formerly prohibited by law ; it is
now permitted, and forms an increasing and profitable branch
of trade.

The preparation of wool by carding, for the manufacture
of woollen cloth, is performed in an entirely different manner.
In this process, the filaments are not kept entire and laid
parallel to one another in the direction of the thread to be
spun ; but they are torn and broken into innumerable minute
fragments, and then mingled together in every direction. By
the spiral growth of wool, as distingushed from that of hair,
each filament, or portion of a filament, is curled at its ex-
tremity, and the broken or divided parts tend to hook them-
selves to one another, so that, when a portion of wool is
forcibly broken into pieces, the fragments remain loosely
adherent, and may then be twisted or spun. The operation
of breaking the wool by means of the card is performed by
machinery ; but the principle of the process will be under-
stood from the following explanation : —

Let there be supposed to be a board with a handle attached,
and that in this board is fixed a great number of crooked
wires, all bent in one direction. These wires are then par-
tially filled with wool. Another board with the same kind of
wires or teeth is then pulled in such a manner as that its
teeth shall pass through amongst those of the other board.
By the repeated action of these two cards, the wool is broken
into minute fragments, which, from the curling property of
the wool referred to, hook themselves together, and are
formed into long rolls or cardings, which, being drawn out
and twisted, form the thread.

This peculiar mode of forming the thread of woollen yarn
has relation to the kind of fabric to be formed, namely,
woollen cloth, which is a substance of a dense and close tex-
ture ; while the fabrics formed of worsted thread are of a
lighter and looser texture. The denser consistence is given
to the woollen cloth by means of the property termed Felting.

The property of felting consists in a tendency of the fila-

46 THE SHEEP.

merits of wool to unite or adhere when moistened and com-
pressed. By compression in the moist state, a mass of wool
becomes a dense body, as we see in the case of hats or beavers,
which are formed of the wool and down of animals subjected
to pressure and moisture. Nay, by this process alone, with-
out the intervention of spinning or weaving, cloth can be
formed. Thus, in ancient times, and among certain people of
the East at the present day, caps, mantles, blankets, carpets,
and the covering of tents, are formed by felting alone. In
England, recent experiments have shewn, that tolerably good
cloths, both with respect to durability and fineness, may be
formed by this means. The property appears to depend on
the form of the filaments before referred to. -Each filament
is seen to be notched all round with minute serrations, formed
by fine sharp laminse, proceeding from the pile like the leaves
of an artichoke, all pointing in one direction from the base
to the extremity. Now when, by the process of carding, the
filaments are broken into minute fragments, the parts are in-
termingled in every direction, and the serrations tend to lock
themselves into one another by meeting in opposite direc-
tions. But when wool is prepared by combing, the serrations
lie in one direction, and do not in the same degree tend to
lock themselves together.

In the manufacture of woollen cloth, the felting process is
not called into operation until the threads are spun and
woven, and in the preparatory process the tendency of the
filaments to cohere is prevented by oiling the wool. But
when the cloth is woven, it is subjected to a process termed
Fulling, for the purpose of freeing it from the oily matter.
The fulling is performed by machinery, and consists in press-
ing the cloth in water along with clay, the aluminous matter
of which combines with the oil of the cloth. It is in under-
going this operation that the threads and filaments cohere
together, so that the cloth becomes more thick, and does not
unravel when cut.

From this account, it will be seen that, while the facilitv

WOOL. 47

of felting is an important property in the case of all wool
designed for the manufacture of cloth, and prepared by the
card, it is not required in the case of wool intended for
worsted, and prepared by the comb. Certain kinds of wool
have this property in a higher degree than others, and are
consequently better adapted for the making of woollen cloth.
In general, the shorter kinds of wool having also fine fila-
ments, are those of which the laminae are most numerous
and distinct, and are those accordingly in which the felting
property is the greatest. The property, however, is not in
proportion to the tenuity of the fibres, since certain short
and slender wools possess it in an inferior degree. Of all
known wools, that derived from the Merino race possesses
the felting property in the greatest perfection, and is accord-
ingly the best adapted of all others for the making of cloth ;
while the long and tough wool of the larger sheep is imper-
fectly adapted to the preparation of woollen yarn, and ac-
cordingly is never prepared by the action of the card. It is,
therefore, the short and felting wools which alone are fitted
for this process ; and until a period comparatively recent, they
were, with few exceptions in this country, never prepared by
any other means. This gave rise to a popular distinction,
long in use, and not yet entirely abandoned. The long wools
were termed Combing wools ; the short, Carding wools. But
these designations are no longer applicable. By improve-
ments in the woollen manufacture, the means have been
found to prepare the shorter and more delicate wools by the
comb as well as by the card ; and now a great proportion of
all the short wool of this country is converted into worsted
yarn. The South Down wool, which was formerly, and until
a recent period exclusively, prepared by the card, is now in
a still larger degree prepared by the comb for the manufac-
ture of worsted. It has fallen in price, indeed, from its being
no longer used for the finer cloths, but the range of its utility
has been greatly extended. Thus it is also with the wool of
the Cheviot, the Norfolk, and other Short-woolled breeds ;

48 THE SHEEP.

and there cannot be a doubt, that, although individual in-
terests may have been injuriously affected by the fall in the
price, the nation has been benefited by an extension of the
purposes to which this class of wools can be applied. Nay,
the general good of the wool-growers themselves has been
eminently served. The demand for their commodity has be-
come more steady, and the trade been placed on a surer basis,
by being founded on an enlarged demand, and supported, not
by* artificial regulations and fiscal restraints, but by an exten-
sion of the woollen manufacture. Soon after the peace of
1814, alarm was raised among the British wool-growers lest
the price of the raw material should be reduced below what
they chose to term a remunerating price. The Government
of the day, in an evil hour, yielded to the influence exerted ;
and in the year 1819, heavy duties were imposed on foreign
wool, with the design of keeping up the price of the native pro-
duce, under the specious pretext of encouraging British agri-
culture. In six years this monstrous law was repealed, but
not until it had done all that the shortness of the time allowed
for establishing the manufactures of foreign rivals, and giv-
ing them the ascendency in the markets of Europe. But the
price of short wool continuing to decline, renewed efforts were
made by the wool-growers to induce the Legislature to re-
store the former restrictions. This, in 1828, led to a parlia-
mentary inquiry, when a mass of evidence was produced,
proving beyond all cavil the danger and evil of interfering,
through the medium of duties and fiscal regulations, with the
raw material of a manufacture which could only be sustained
by freedom of trade and production. It was proved by the con-
current testimony of witnesses from all parts, that the cloth
made from British wool alone could no longer find a market
in Europe, and was even deemed too coarse for the clothing
of the labouring classes at home ; and that, without a free
command of the wool of other countries, a great part of the
woollen export trade of Great Britain would be for ever lost.
It may well excite surprise that any class of men amongst

WOOL. 49

us should have dared to demand that the manufacturers of
the country should be prevented from procuring the materials
of their manufacture where they could be obtained cheapest
and best ; nay, should not only be prevented from exercising
this natural and necessary right, but compelled to take from
the wool-growers at home, and at a price enhanced by fiscal
regulations, what was absolutely unsuited for the purposes
of commerce. The disgraceful law of 1819 had already
shewn, that, by refusing to take the wools of other countries,
we depressed the price of the raw material abroad, and thus
gave an indirect premium to the foreign manufacturer ; and
that, by forcing our manufacturers to employ wools of inferior
quality and higher price, we directly unfitted them for com-
petition in the general market of the world. It was of the
repeal of the law of 1819 that the wool-growers thought fit
to complain, as having produced the depreciation which had
taken place in the price of the clothing wools, not perceiving
that, in admitting the depreciation from this cause, they ad-
mitted at the same time the magnitude and injustice of a
burden, which had been so heavily taxing the manufacturing
industry of our own country, and fostering that of others.

\Vhat,k it may be well asked, did the wool-growers hope for
by forcing up the price of wool by such expedients ? To the
mere occupier of the land a forced rise of the raw material
could only be beneficial during a passing term. On the ter-
mination of the lease, the benefit would go to the owner of
the land in the shape of increased rent. Thus, in order to
raise the rent of the land, the wool-growers were prepared to
lay a tax on every consumer of wool, that is, on every indi-
vidual in the kingdom, and to cripple the trader in his means
to maintain his equality in the foreign markets. It is known
that, in these times, the great danger to the manufacturing
prosperity of the country is the progress of other nations in
those arts in which we have hitherto excelled, and that our
relative superiority in such arts can only be maintained by
our being enabled to supply the productions of them on the

50 THE SHEEP.

cheapest terms ; and granting that the wool-growers could,
by means of an ill-judged monopoly, have forced up for a time
the price of the native wool, would they not thereby have
abandoned a yet more safe and permanent means of effecting
the end, namely, that which would have resulted from in-
creasing the demand for the manufactured commodity ? The
injurious measure contended for was, however, happily re-
sisted, never, it is to be trusted, to be brought forward again ;
and the trade of wool, by being thrown open to the world,
has been placed on a far surer foundation than if it had been
made to rest on the narrow and insecure basis of monopoly
and restriction.*

The woollen trade of England has been cherished by the
laws from early times, and has long been regarded as a main
branch of the industry of the country. The Romans extended
and perfected the arts of spinning and weaving in Britain, as
in other of their provinces, and taught the natives to clothe
themselves after the Roman fashion. They established fac-
tories, of which that at Winchester was long distinguished.
But the garments and woollen fabrics of the people were for
the most part spun and woven by themselves, under that
system of domestic manufacture which is the first in order of
time in all rude countries. The employment of spinning and
weaving was chiefly devolved on females, whence the term
Spinster, whicli has been in use from time immemorial. Ed-
ward the Elder, who died in the year of our Lord 925, mar-
ried, we are told, the daughter of a shepherd or countryman
of mean rank ; and being desirous that his children should
have a princely education, " he sette his sons to scole, and
his daughters he sette to woll werke, takyne example of
Charles the Conquestour."t

In the succeeding times of the Norman princes, the state
of the woollen trade is made known to us by the records of
customs, subsidies, fines, and fiscal regulations. "Wool formed

* Remarks on Wool, aliunde, by the Author. f Fabian's Chron.

WOOL. 51

the chief revenue of the prince, and the subject of continued
exaction on the people. Sometimes the woollen subsidies
were paid in kind, but more generally in heavy duties laid
upon the sale or exportation of the wool. In these early
times the raw material alone was exported. It was carried
chiefly to the Low Countries, where it was manufactured into
cloths and worsted stuffs by the Flemings, then become the
great weavers of Northern Europe. These industrious people
maintained their superiority in the woollen manufacture for
many ages, and during this period acquired that wealth which
enabled them to render their country the most populous and
fruitful in Europe. Their chief dependence for the raw mate-
rial was on England, which alone could supply them in the
due quantity with the wool which their innumerable looms
required. They returned the manufactured commodity at a
high price ; and yet the trade was mutually beneficial, and
calculated to advance the industry of the ruder, as well as the
more cultivated, people. But Edward III., soon after his ac-
cession to the crown, resolved to wrest the woollen manufac-
ture as much as possible from the Flemings, and establish it
at home. He encouraged the resort of foreign artisans to
England ; and, availing himself of certain discontents in
Flanders, he invited over weavers, dyers, fullers, and others,
and established them in different parts, affording them pro-
tection and privileges. He caused it to be enacted, that all
merchant strangers and denizens might buy and sell within
the realm, freely and without interruption, and that all foreign
clothmakers should be received from whatever foreign parts
they came. To encourage the home manufacture, he even
resolved to prevent the exportation of English wool, and the
importation of foreign cloths. At a parliament held in March
1337, it was enacted that no wool of English growth should
be transported beyond sea, and that none should wear any
cloths made beyond sea. But this statute soon gave way to
the exigencies of the exchequer, and the temptation of im-
posts, licenses, and fines.

52 THE SHEEP.

This prince has been regarded as the great founder of the
manufacturing prosperity of England, — with what justice, let
the records of his exchequer, and the complaints of his harassed
subjects, declare. He bestowed his favour upon the woollen
trade, it is true, but merely as an engine for extorting money ;
and in no previous reign had the exactions on this part of the
industry of the country been more grievous. We are amazed
at the sums he drew from forced subsidies, customs, fines,
and otherwise. On one occasion having, without the sanction
of Parliament, and contrary, accordingly, to Magna Charta,
laid a heavy impost on all wool sold within the kingdom, the
Commons agree to give him 30,000 sacks of wool for his re-
lief, on condition that he should keep to the customs ordained
kby law ; and the Lords, after humbly praying " that the great
wrong set upon wool be revoked," offer him in return the
tenth sheaf of all the corn of their demesnes, and the tenth
fleece of wool, and the tenth lamb of their own stores, to be
paid within two years. The clergy sometimes assisted him,
as, on one occasion, by raising for him 20,000 sacks. When
these woollen subsidies were to be levied, care likewise was
used that the king's market wras not interfered with. Pro-
clamation was sometimes made, " that no person buy any
wools before the king be served, whereunto all customers
shall have an eye."* On one occasion, the king having re-
solved to export 20,000 sacks on his own account, his ready
Parliament enacted that no man before that time should pass
over any wool on pain of treble loss, life and member !

Such was the protection afforded to the woollen trade on
the part of our earlier governments. By the increasing power
of the people, the exactions of the prince were better resisted
in the following reigns ; but yet we recognise little of just and
liberal principles in the legislation of the times. Guilds and
corporations with exclusive privileges were multiplied, and
thus monopoly crept into all the departments of the woollen

* Smith's Memoirs of Wool.

WOOL. 53

trade ; foreigners were treated with jealousy and injustice ;
and restrictions were extended to every branch of the manu-
facture. Still, the woollen manufactures of the country con-
tinued to extend ; but it was not until the more settled times
of Henry VII. that cloth began to be exported in any quan-
tity. But how little of this advancement was due to the wis-
dom of the laws, may be seen from the statutes which were
before and afterwards enacted. Certain towns and districts
were frequently allowed the exclusive privilege of manufac-
turing and selling certain kinds of goods. An act of Henry
VIII. declares, that worsted yarn is the " private commoditie"
of the city of Norwich, and county of Norfolk ; and therefore
enacts " that none shall be transported, nor shipped to be
transported, nor bought, nor caused to be bought, by any but
weavers in the said city or county." Another act recites,
that " the city of York afore this time hath been upholden
principally by making and weaving coverlets, and that the
same have not been made elsewhere in the said county till of
late, and that this manufacture had spread itself into other
parts of the county, and was thereby debased and discredited ;"
and therefore ordains, " That none shall make coverlets in
Yorkshire but inhabitants of the city of York." An act of
the same prince revives certain older laws against enclosures,
and another limits the number of Sheep which any one shall
keep, on account, it is stated, of the rise in the price of
victual and clothing. By an act of William and Mary, it is
ordained that no clothier out of a burgh, market town, or
corporate town, shall have above one loom ; that no weaver
dwelling out of a city shall have above two looms ; that no
weaver shall be either tucker, fuller, or dyer ; that no fuller
or tucker shall keep a loom ; that no person shall cause any
white broad woollen cloths to be made but in a city, or where
such cloths have been made for the space of ten years before ;
that no weaver dwelling out of a city shall have above two
apprentices at one time ; and that none shall set up weaving
unless he have been apprentice to, or have exercised the

54 THE SHEEP.

same, for seven years, and so forth. Absurd as are these,
and many more of the laws of the times, the woollen trade
arid manufacture had been continually extending ; and, in
the" glorious reign of Elizabeth, became one of the main
sources of national opulence and power.

With the progressive increase, during the preceding reigns,
of the foreign export trade in manufactured goods, the ex-
portation of raw wool had been gradually declining, and
became continually less a means of supplying the wants of
needy princes. Elizabeth, with a provident sagacity, did not
prohibit the exportation of the raw material ; and thus, while
she supported the manufacturer, she encouraged the growth of
native wool, by suffering the growers to send their produce
to the most suitable market. This wise policy had a happy
effect ; while events arose, in connexion with the melancholy
history of other countries, which gave a new vigour to the
manufacturing industry of England.

Charles V. had succeeded, together with his other fair
dominions, to the sovereignty of the Low Countries, then
including the Dutch provinces. The doctrines of the Refor-
mation, so well suited to the genius of a frugal and calcu-
lating people, had early made a silent progress in the coun-
try ; but here, as elsewhere, the strength of authoritv was
put forth to repress the spreading heresy. Civil grievances
were added to religious quarrels. Charles lived to witness
and deplore the growing discontent of his once faithful people;
but it was reserved for his son and successor Philip II. to fan
the embers of rebellion into flame, and complete the ruin of
his rich and peaceful provinces. The people, who had been
termed in contempt Geux, or beggars, by the minions of the
Court, assumed, with bitter irony, the wallet and the staff as
the ensign of their confederacy, and everywhere made head
against their oppressors. A civil war ensued, rendered hor-
rible by the merciless severity with which it was carried on ;
by the sacking of rich towns, and other excesses of merce-
nary soldiers ; by confiscations and judicial murders. After

WOOL. 55

a time, ten of the provinces remained subjugated, but seven
achieved their independence, and became, under the name of
the Seven United Provinces, or Republic of Holland, one of
the most powerful nations of Europe. On the death of Philip,
in 1598, the subdued provinces enjoyed a kind of repose ; but
the commerce that made them powerful was gone, and all
their arts were in a state of decay. During forty years of
war and misrule, multitudes of artisans had migrated with
their families to other countries, and in an especial degree to
England, where they were received with sympathy and fa-
vour. It is supposed that about 50,000 of these unfortunate
refugees found shelter in England soon after the first inva-
sion of the barbarous Duke of Alva. They were settled in
all parts of the kingdom, and contributed to give that perfec-
tion to the English manufactures, particularly of the finer
stuffs, in which they were formerly deficient. This, in con-
nexion with the growing commerce of the country, extended
the woollen trade of England to every part of the world, and
made it be regarded as the most important department of
national industry. The illustrious De Witt, in lamenting
the destruction of the woollen manufacture of the Nether-
lands, first by injurious laws at home, and then by the cruelty
of the Duke of Alva, observes, that afterwards " The English
by degrees began to vend their manufactures throughout
Europe, and then they became potent at sea ; and he who is
powerful at sea is a lord at land, and more especially a king
of England. — "

During the reigns of the princes of the House of Stuart,
the woollen trade continued in a languishing condition. The
commercial legislation of this period, with respect to wool,
was marked by the spirit of monopoly and exclusiveness, a
short-sighted regard to little interests, a petty intermeddling
with the details of trade, and a jealousy of particular classes,
interests, and countries. The Dutch, then becoming a ma-
nufacturing as well as a trading people, were the subjects of
especial jealousy and dislike. They had become the princi-

56 THE SHEEP.

pal dyers of Europe. King James I., in the plenitude of his
wisdom, resolved to take the process of dyeing into his own
hands. He gave exclusive patents to persons at home to
perform it, and ordained that no cloth but that dyed in Eng-
land should b.e exported. The Dutch and Germans retaliated,
and refused to take cloth dyed in England. But jealousy
was not confined to aliens. The woollen manufacture had
taken root, and was making progress in the sister Island,
when addresses were presented to the King and both Houses
of Parliament, " beseeching his Majesty to take effectual
measures to prevent the growth of the woollen manufactures
in Ireland/' The exportation of Irish wool to any country
but England was rendered a felony ; and the importation of
manufactured goods into England itself was prevented by
restrictions equivalent to a prohibition. The exportation,
even, of our English wool, was rigidly prohibited ; and the
protection given to stranger artisans was so counteracted
by the miserable laws of corporations, that numbers of the
former refugees quitted the country in disgust.

During the reigns of Queen Anne and the two first sove-
reigns of the House of Hanover, the home consumption of
woollen goods greatly increased, but the foreign woollen
trade remained nearly stationary. During the first part of
the reign of George III., it progressively extended, but yet
not to a degree corresponding with the increasing wealth of
the country. The chief demand was for the West India
Islands and the North American Colonies. After the year
1773, a revolution occurred in manufacturing industry, which
may be said to have changed the condition of human society.
Machinery was applied to the fabrication of cotton, and the
stupendous power of steam was called into more extended
action. First came the Spinning-jenny, by which a child
could direct a hundred spindles and more, all at a time ; then
the beautiful Frame of Arkwright, which required merely
that the raw material should be supplied, in order to be spun
into threads of surpassing fineness ; then the Mule-jenny ;

WOOL. 57

and last the Power-loom, which substituted mechanical for hu-
man power in the forming of the cloth. A similar machinery
was applied to the spinning and weaving of wool, and the
whole processes of the art were changed. The variety, qua-
lity, and cheapness of the productions increased in a won-
derful degree ; and, notwithstanding the amazing extension
of the use of cotton in furniture, clothing, and dress, the con-
sumption of wool in England has not only not diminished,
but is at this time greater than in any former age.

The number of Sheep in the British Islands has been va-
riously computed at from thirty to thirty-five millions. Tak-
ing the latter sum, which probably falls below the real
amount, and assuming the produce, after making allowance
for the deficient weight of the wool of slaughtered sheep and
lambs, to be 4| lb. the fleece, the total quantity produced
will be . ... 157,500,000 lb.

Whereof are exported in the raw state, 4,603,799

Leaving to be manufactured, . 152,896,201 lb.

And assuming the price to be Is. 3d. per lb.,

the value of the raw material will be L.9,556,012 11 3
The value of foreign wool imported,

56,700,895 lb. at 2s. 6d., is . 7,087,61117 6

L.16,643,624 8 9

Supposing, then, the value of the manufactured commo-
dity to be 2| times that of the raw material, the value of
manufactured woollen goods produced in Britain will be
L.41,609,061 : 1 : 10.

This great national manufacture supplies a larger internal
consumption than takes place in any other country ; and affords
a surplus, valued at between six and seven millions sterling,
besides yarn, valued at about half a million, for an export
trade to all parts of the world, being more than one-eighth

58 THE SHEEP.

part of the whole export trade of the kingdom. The woollen
trade is, therefore, of surpassing importance to the nation.
It has to contend with the fiscal regulations, and the increas-
ing production and rivalry of other countries ; but hitherto
the superior capital, machinery, and industry of the country,
and the facilities of an extended commerce, have given advan-
tages to the British manufacturer which no European coun-
try as yet possesses.

This brief account of the nature and properties of wool,
will prepare us for considering the characters of the various
breeds of Sheep which have been naturalized in these Islands.

I. THE BREEDS OF THE ZETLAND AND ORKNEY
ISLANDS.

The Sheep of this race inhabit the group of Islands and
Islets which lie to the north of the Pentland Firth, extending
to about the sixty-first degree of north latitude. They have
been in numerous cases intermixed with Dutch Sheep, brought
by the fishing-craft which frequent these northern seas, and
likewise with the Sheep of the Main. They thus differ in
some degree in the different islands, and even in different
flocks of the same island ; but they have manifestly a common
origin with the Sheep of Norway and other parts of Northern
Europe.

These wild little Sheep are possessed of a fur consisting
partly of hair and partly of fine wool. They are of different
colours, black, brown, or white ; and more often they are of
a gray colour, from the mixture of black and white, and are
often curiously streaked. There are horns in both sexes, but
more generally they are wanting in the females, and some-
times in the males. Their horns are short, and often so straight
and upright, as to resemble those of the Goat. Their tails. are
short and broad, and their limbs slender, their aspect is
wild, and their motions are active.

BREEDS OF THE ZETLAND AND ORKNEY ISLANDS. 59

These Sheep have acquired the characters which fit them
for the condition in which they are placed. The country
which they inhabit possesses a climate eminently cold and
humid, and is exposed to continual gusts and storms. Scarce
a tree is to be found, or a shrubby plant, beyond the heath
which covers the soil. Many of the islets are little else than
rocks, with a covering of peat, washed by the spray of the
boisterous seas which surround them, and occupied only by a
few Sheep left to find their own food. Under these circum-
stances, the Sheep are small in size, but hardy, and capable
of subsisting under great privations of food. The wethers
may be fattened, on a medium, to 6 or 7 lb. the quarter. At
certain seasons they find their way from the mountains to the
shores, and feed on the fuci and other marine plants. It is
remarkable to see them, on the receding of the tide, running
down from the hills, as if possessing an instinctive knowledge
of the time of ebb. They remain feeding while the sea allows ;
and sometimes they are caught by the surrounding tide and
drowned. Sometimes they are unable, from exhaustion, to
ascend again the cliffs of the coast, and so perish ; sometimes
they are driven into coves, where they are imprisoned until
the retiring tide permits them to escape. It is remarkable
that these Sheep feed readily on animal substances. One of
the greatest resources in some of the islands for keeping
them, when no other provender exists, is fish, which are dried
on the rocky shores for that purpose. These Sheep manifest,
in their habits, the rudeness of their condition. The rams
will often set upon the other sheep of the flock if wounded,
and destroy them. They will furiously attack the females
and new-born lambs, as if, in the dreary circumscribed islets
which they inhabit, they had acquired the instinct of endea-
vouring to prevent the too great multiplication of their num-
bers. The ewes, conscious of the danger, make their escape
at the time of lambing, that they may bring forth their young
in secret. When brought to the richer countries, these wild
creatures make every effort to escape from the enclosures

60 THE SHEEP.

which confine them, find their way to the nearest elevated
grounds, and wander from place to place. They crop the tops
of herbs in the manner of goats, and endeavour to reach the
branches of shrubs and trees. Their descendants, for more
than one generation, retain the wild habits of the race.

Of these Sheep, the least mixed with foreign blood are those
of the remoter Islands, chiefly of Zetland. The Sheep of
Orkney are of a more mixed descent, and the impure breeds
have not the fineness of wool which distinguishes the ancient
race. In these animals, the hair grows mixed with the wool
all over the body. The wool falls off at the commencement
of the warmer season, leaving the hair to protect the animal.
Previous to the winter months, the wool has again grown,
and, along with the hair, forms a thick fur, suited to afford a
covering during the intense rigour of the colder season. The
usual practice is to pluck off the wool, and not to shear it.
This practice has been described as rude and cruel. It is,
however, the method of treatment which is the best adapted
for obtaining the wool unmixed with the hairs, which would
render it unsuited for being spun and woven. The wool may,
in this manner, be taken from the skin without violence, and
would fall off naturally, and be left amongst the heaths and
in the bogs. The wool is scarcely ever washed before being
pulled, and the quantity is very small, not exceeding from l£
to 2 Ib. in the unwashed state. It is remarkable for its soft-
ness and the tenuity of its filaments. It is admirably suited
for being made into hose and fine flannels, but is deficient in
the property of felting, and is therefore ill adapted for the
making of cloths. The black-coloured wool is the most
valued for the making of hose and caps, because it does not
require the addition of dyes. The hides with the wool form
beautiful pelisses, and would be valuable on this account,
were such dresses in demand in this country.

The Sheep, over a great part of these islands, are pastured
in common, and the general treatment of them is rude in a
remarkable degree. The animals are often left entirely to

BREEDS OF THE ZETLAND AND ORKNEY ISLANDS. 61

their own resources in the bleak and desolate islands in which
they are imprisoned. They are collected by being hunted to-
gether once a-year, stripped of their fleeces, marked by their
respective owners, and then turned adrift, until such as sur-
vive are caught again in the following year, and subjected to
the same treatment. In all cases, the number of Rams is
allowed to be disproportioned to that of the Ewes ; and, in
many cases, the number of the sexes are nearly equal. When
Sheep are wanted from the pastures, they are run down by
dogs ; and hence these poor creatures acquire as great a ter-
ror for the dog as in other countries they do for the wolf or
other beasts of prey. The dogs, termed Had or Sheep Dogs,
are taught to select a particular Sheep, and run him down ;
and curious old laws existed regarding the property and con-
trol of these animals. Under the whole of this barbarous
system, the mortality is excessive ; all the profit to be de-
rived from a proper management of a flock of sheep is lost ;
and all the means are foregone of improving the breed, by the
selection of the male and female parents.

It is painful to draw such a picture of neglect, as appli-
cable to the rural economy of any part of a country like Bri-
tain. Yet it is consoling to know that the seeds of improve-
ment are scattered in these long-neglected Islands. In seve-
ral of them are settled various landed gentlemen, who are
equal in intelligence to any in the kingdom, and who have
begun to give the due attention to the resources of their
country. The efforts of such individuals to improve the do-
mestic animals of their estates cannot fail to meet with suc-
cess, nor the benefits of their example to be gradually dif-
fused. The power of steam has further been called into ope-
ration, to bring those remote Islands into contact with the
markets of the South ; and now the breeders, instead of suf-
fering their Sheep to become the prey of eagles, ravens, and
gulls, and to perish through hunger and neglect, have the
means of carrying their rich and delicate mutton direct to the
best markets of consumption in the kingdom.

62 THE SHEEP.

A .question of economical interest for these Islands is,
whether the existing breeds should be preserved, or new
ones substituted. The interests of individuals may be ex-
pected to lead them to the latter course, at least to the ex-
tent of crossing the native races with superior stock. In
this manner an immediate profit may be expected ; and it is
not to be supposed that individual breeders will abandon a
mean of present profit for one more distant and contingent.
Under this system, indeed, the pure Scandinavian Breed will
diminish in numbers, and ultimately disappear ; but this
could scarcely be regretted, if a more useful class of animals
were to be substituted. If it were wished to preserve the
ancient race in such of the Islands as yet produce them, then
the attention of breeders should be directed to the proper
management of their flocks, to better feeding, and to long
and persevering care in the selection of the males and females.
Without attention to these things, the present race of Zet-
land Sheep can never be recovered from the degeneracy into
which it has fallen during ages of maltreatment and neglect.

The Merino Sheep have been tried for the purpose of cross-
ing the native race ; but, as might have been anticipated
from the habitudes of the Merino parents, the progeny was
found unfitted to withstand the rigour of the climate, and the
exposed situation of the country. The Cheviot Sheep have,
however, been used for crossing with advantage, and appear
to be the breed which is greatly the best for the purpose.

The Short-tailed Sheep of Northern Europe had also been
early carried to the Hebrides, doubtless by the Norwegians.
Some of the descendants of these Sheep remain, but only in
scattered remnants, which are rapidly disappearing, their
size being diminutive, and the interest of the breeders having
everywhere led them to adopt breeds of more economical
value. Polycerate Sheep, too, are sometimes found in the
Islands of Scotland, doubtless the descendants of the same
race in Iceland and the north of Europe, but they are gene-
rally worthless, and are nearly extinct.

THE SOFT-WOOLLED SHEEP OF SCOTLAND. 63

II.— THE SOFT-WOOLLED SHEEP OF SCOTLAND.

Although the early inhabitants of North Britain directed
more attention to the Goat than to the Sheep, it appears
that Sheep were reared by them in some numbers in the
higher countries, and largely in the plains, when the country
had become cleared of wood and partially cultivated. Rem-
nants of the older races existed up to a late period in the
last century; but on the introduction of Sheep of a larger
size, and of more economical value, the older races progres-
sively disappeared, until a few scattered flocks only were
left in some of the more distant parts of the country, chiefly
in the Hebrides and Central Highlands. These Sheep pre-
sented different characters, according to the nature of the
localities in which they were reared ; but they may be de-
scribed, in general, as being of small size, and lank agile
forms ; as having generally short slender horns ; and as hav-
ing a soft wool, fitted for the making of flannels, but not
well adapted for felting. They had the tails long, and not
short and flat like the Sheep of northern Europe ; so that
they differed entirely in race from those which, at a sub-
sequent period, were introduced into the remoter Islands
by the Scandinavian pirates. They were of various colours,
frequently brown, and often this brown colour remained on
the face when the rest of the body had become white ; on
which account they sometimes received the name of the Dun-
faced breed. They were exceedingly wild, and hardly to be
confined by common enclosures. They were hardy in a re-
markable degree, subsisting on scanty fare, and bearing the
rudest treatment, and were remarkably exempt from those
maladies which frequently produce such ravages in the mo-
dern races.

The Soft-woolled Sheep may be said to be now nearly ex-
tinct as a separate variety in Scotland ; but kindred races

64 THE SHEEP.

still exist in Wales and Ireland, the remnants, we may be-
lieve, of the ancient Sheep of the country.

III.— THE BREED OF THE HIGHER WELSH
MOUNTAINS.

The Sheep of Wales, inhabiting a country partly of moun-
tains and partly of valleys and plains, may be expected to
present great diversities of character. Accordingly, we find
a variety of breeds, from the wilder races of the higher
mountains to the larger Sheep of the lower country. The
latter classes of Sheep, however, are not truly Welsh. They
are the Leicester, Cotswold, and other Sheep of the English
plains', either pure or mixed with the races of the mountains.
It is the Mountain Sheep alone that we are to regard as the
genuine Sheep of Wales, the descendants, it maybe believed,
of the ancient Sheep of South Britain.

Of the Mountain Sheep of Wales there are numerous
minor varieties, but generally they may be divided into two
groups, which may be regarded as the types to which all
the others have more or less affinity. A great part of the
mountains of Wales, it is to be observed, is absolute com-
mon, in which animals of every kind may be mingled to-
gether ; and however distinct the original races may have
been, it is not to be supposed that they can have remained
without intermixture during the many ages in which Wales
has existed nearly in its present state. Notwithstanding,
however, of this amalgamation, there may be traced the
characters of two very distinct groups ; the first, the wilder
Sheep of the higher mountains ; the second, a race generally
inhabiting a lower range of pasturage, and possessed of pecu-
liar characters. The first may be termed the Sheep of the
Higher Mountains, as indicating their habitat ; the second,
the Soft-woolled Sheep of Wales, as denoting the character
of the fleece.

THE BREED OF THE HIGHER WELSH MOUNTAINS. 65

The Sheep of the higher mountains are of small size,
scarcely capable of fattening to above 5 Ib. the quarter, and
have horns, both in the male and female, slightly curved, and
stretching backwards in the manner of the Goat ; their tail
is of ordinary length ; they have a ridge of coarse hairs pass-
ing along the spine to the tail, surrounding the neck and
reaching to the dewlap ; the wool on the sides is of medium
fineness, and on the haunch it is coarse and wiry. The colour
of the fleece is black, gray, or brown.

This remarkable race has the wool and aspect of the
Sheep, but in habits it rather resembles the Goat. It seeks
the summits of mountains ; it vaults, rather than runs ;
and feeds on the dry aromatic plants of mountains in prefer-
ence to the herbage of the lower valleys. Like all the na-
tive Sheep of elevated regions, the fleece of these wild little
animals is a mixture of hair and wool, so that their bodies
may be better protected from the inclemency of the weather.
They are almost as difficult to be approached in their native
haunts as the Deer or the Antelope. Some say that they
station sentinels on the higher ground, who give notice to the
scattered flock of the approach of danger by a kind of shrill
bleat resembling a falsetto tone. As in the case of the An-
telope, no sooner is one alarmed, than all the others bound
off together, gazing behind them as they run in the manner
of the Musmon and Argali. The rams attack the ewes at
the period of bringing forth their young — a singular instinct,
existing, it has been seen, in the wild races of the Zetland
and Orkney Islands, and given, it may be believed, to pre-
vent the multiplication of their numbers beyond the means
of subsistence.

It may appear remarkable .that this race should preserve
itself distinct from the others with which the commons and
mountains of the country are stocked. It is to be observed,
however, that this is in accordance with the habits of all
Sheep possessing a peculiar character and temperament.
Thus, the naturalized Merino Sheep never amalgamate tho-

66 THE SHEEP.

roughly with the races with which they are mingled in the
same pastures ; they collect in separate flocks upon the
higher grounds, and crowd together when alarmed ; in like
manner, if any of the breeds of Forest Sheep are mingled
with those of the lower country, they congregate together,
and pursue their own range of pasturage. Now, from what-
ever causes the wild Sheep of Wales assumed their existing
character, they have acquired the habits proper to their
situation. They keep by choice to their natural habitat, and
herd together ; and hence it is that the original characters
of the race have not merged in those of other varieties.

This race of Sheep, though with some change of character,
is found all over the most elevated parts of Wales, from the
inland mountains of Glamorganshire to those of Merioneth
and Caernarvon. They are numerous in Caernarvon, and
when seen by the traveller have more the aspect of Dogs and
Foxes than of Sheep.

As this race becomes naturalized in a lower range of
mountains, or in any way is placed under more favourable
circumstances with respect to the supplies of food, it becomes
enlarged in size, and loses part of its natural rudeness. Ac-
cordingly, gradations are observed in the character of the
race, from the more elevated and barren mountains, to those
which are of a lower altitude, or more productive of herbage.
The Sheep of Radnor and some other parts are of the same
descent, but are so changed by the more favourable circum-
stances under which they are reared, that they are looked
upon as distinct breeds. They have manifestly, however, a
common origin with the wilder Sheep of the higher moun-
tains ; and there are everywhere examples to shew the pro-
gressive steps by which the wilder race may assume a new
set of characters, in consequence of better food and atten-
tion to the parents in breeding. All the varieties of the
Welsh Sheep which have an affinity with the race of the
higher mountains have horns, and have more or less of black
hair on the face and legs.

THE SOFT-WOOLLED SHEEP OF WALES. 67

The wildest race of Sheep in Wales is susceptible of im-
provement ; but, to accomplish this to the required degree,
a long course of selection, combined with a proper practice
with respect to feeding, is required. But this wilder breed
presents no characters which can render it expedient to
expend time and capital in cultivating it in preference to
others already formed. The basis is bad, and the inter-
ests of breeders will be served, either by substituting at
once a superior breed, or by crossing the native race until
one with better properties has been produced. Two races
of improved Sheep exist in this country, which might
either supplant the existing races o'f the Welsh mountains,
or be employed for crossing until a new class of properties
were produced. These are the South Down and the Cheviot
breeds. The South Down is rather suited to a dry than a
moist climate, and its natural habitat is not similar to the
humid soils of Wales. It is conceived, therefore, that the
Cheviot breed, though inferior as a breed to the South Down,
presents a combination of properties which may adapt it
better to this part of the country. It is, in all useful pro-
perties, vastly superior to the indigenous race, and has al-
ready been acclimated in countries more elevated and inhos-
pitable than the highest ranges of the mountains of Wales.

IV.— THE SOFT-WOOLLED SHEEP OF WALES.

The most characteristic race of Sheep in Wales is that
which has been termed the Soft-woolled breed. It may re-
ceive this name on account of the quality of its wool, which,
though mixed with hairs, is much less so than that of the
wilder breeds referred to, and has a softness and tenuity of
filament which peculiarly fit it for the making of flannels,
one of the staple native manufactures of the Principality. It
may, however, be more appropriately termed the White-nosed

68 THE SHEEP.

Breed, from a character which distinguishes it from every
other in Wales.

This race of Sheep is spread over the whole of Wales, and
is truly the distinctive breed of the country. The animals
are of small size, usually weighing from 5 Ib. to 7 lb. the
quarter, when grown and fat. They are of the long-tailed
variety of Sheep, thus agreeing with the Sheep of the Celtic
nations of Europe, and differing from those of the Scandina-
vians. The males have horns, which are thin, slightly curved,
and bent backwards ; the females are generally destitute of
horns, and sometimes the males. Their noses are white, or
pink-coloured. They have lengthened hair beneath the throat
like a beard. Their figure is very slender, and their posterior
limbs long, as if to fit them for vaulting as well as running.
Their neck is thin, and thrown back in the manner of the
Antelope or Deer. The fur of the face and body is white,
but sometimes, as in almost all breeds of Sheep, individuals
wholly brown or black present themselves.

These Sheep have all the wild characters of a mountain
breed. They are of wandering habits, and range from pas-
ture to pasture ; they prefer the plants of mountains to the
more succulent and nutritive herbage of plains ; they delight
to browse on the leaves of the ivy, and on the shoots of bitter
shrubs, and they rise upon their hinder legs to reach them
after the manner of the Goat. They are fond of taking their
station on elevated points, and making their way amongst
crags and cliffs. They are wary and timid, and, like the
wilder Sheep of the mountain summits, give notice of ap-
proaching danger by a signal. They steal down from the
hills at night, and make inroads into the fields of wheat and
other green plants. They are with difficulty confined by arti-
ficial barriers, leaping over walls, and making their way
through the interstices of hedges ; nay, sometimes they have
been known, when driven to a distance, to escape from the
vigilance of their keepers, and regain their native mountains.
They are driven to London and other markets of consump-

THE SOFT-WOOLLED SHEEP OF WALES. 69

tion, being generally kept by the way to be fattened in the
richer pastures. Their mutton, like that of all the Sheep of
Wales, is excellent, and, when fat, brings a high price.
Many carcasses are sold in London under the name of Welsh
mutton, when, in truth, they are the produce of crosses of dif-
ferent kinds.

The wool weighs from 1 Ib. to 2 Ib. the fleece ; it is never
free from hairs or kemps ; it possesses the character of long
wool, and is, therefore, suited for the making of flannels,
hose, and similar loose fabrics, rather than cloths ; never-
theless, all the home stuffs for country use were formerly
made of this and the other kinds of native wool. The Welsh
long preserved the simplicity of ancient manners, and manu-
factured their woollen stuifs at home. The cheapness of
mechanical labour is rapidly putting an end to this domestic
manufacture ; to the increase, doubtless, of the resources of
the country, though not perhaps to the advancement of
rural industry and happiness. A singular character exists
in the case of this race of sheep. The wool of the neck
tends to fall off that part of the body, and hence it is a fre-
quent practice to clip the wool of the neck and face before
winter.

The Sheep of Anglesea are allied to this race, but, being
reared in a lower country, they are larger than the common
Sheep of the mountains. Crosses have been made from
time to time with the Sheep of Anglesea, but the affinity of
the native race with the Soft-woolled Sheep of the mountains
is easy to be traced, in the height behind, the low and narrow
forequarters, and the character of the wool. The attempts
to improve the old breed of Anglesea by crossing have not
been successful, owing, it may be believed, to the want of per-
severance and system ; and graziers and butchers prefer the
native to the mixed races.

The Old Radnor Sheep have some characters in common
with the White-nosed Breed, but they are more distinctly
connected with the Sheep of the higher mountains. They

70 THE SHEEP.

are of larger size and better form than the White-nosed
Breed, fattening to from 7 lb. to 9 Ib. the quarter. Their wool
is of the long or combing character, but, like that of all the
Sheep of Wales, is soft, and suited to the making of flannels.
It is to be observed that the modern Sheep of the district,
known commonly as the Radnor Breed, differ considerably
from the true Radnors, having been crossed with the Shrop-
shire and other breeds of the low country.

A staple production of Wales being its Sheep, a question
of much interest is the manner in which the different breeds
may be improved. The people of Wales, with the attach-
ment to old habits which distinguishes them, are averse to
changes, and, in the case of their Sheep, there are obstacles
to improvement, independent of the habits of the people. A
great part of the whole mountain pastures is common.
Under such a system, it is difficult to introduce a beneficial
management of sheep. At present, the treatment of the
animals is defective in a high degree. No care is used in
the selection of the breeding parents, and no provision is made
for the proper feeding of the animals in winter : they are left
in a state of nature, and scarcely looked to but when they are
to be caught for divesting them of the fleece. It is not un-
common to shear the lambs in the first year, a practice highly
detrimental in a moist and elevated country ; but the still
worse practice exists of weaning the lambs at an early season,
in order to milk the ewes. The lambs born in March are
frequently weaned in May, and the ewes are milked night
and morning until the middle of September. This miserable
system is calculated to destroy the vigour of the Sheep, and
take away the means to produce and rear a healthy offspring ;
and, until it is abandoned, we may be assured that the Sheep
of the Welsh mountains will continue puny and degenerate.
The substitution of another breed would not remedy the evil,
if this destructive management were continued, and there-
fore, the primary improvement of the Sheep of Wales must
be a change of the system of management.

THE BREED OF THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS. 71

'.t were certainly to be desired, that the ancient breeds of
these mountains could be preserved, as being naturalized to
the country, and producing a kind of wool, which is suited to
a useful class of manufactures ; yet, undoubtedly, individual
breeders will find it more for their interest to adopt a breed
already improved, than to incur the long delay and expense
of improving the existing ones. Crossing will probably be
resorted to more frequently than an entire substitution of a
new breed ; and it is important, that the breeders proceed
with judgment in the system of crossing which they adopt.
They should select the breed which experience shews to be
the best calculated to amalgamate with the existing race.
The most suitable for this purpose seems, as has been already
said, to be the Cheviot, as being the inhabitants of an elevated
country, and producing a kind of wool, which, though dif-
ferent from the Welsh, yet brings a good price in the
market. The Southdowns, with all their valuable properties,
seem scarcely so well suited to these humid mountains, as the
more robust Cheviots ; and it is remarkable, that the South
Down Breed is less in favour with breeders in the moist cli-
mate of the western parts of this country, than towards the
eastern coasts, where the drier climate is nearer to that of
the Chalky Downs which may be regarded as the native
country of the race. Some attempts have been made to cross
the Welsh Sheep with the Black-faced Heath Breed of Scot-
land. But a race superior to the Black-faced Heath Sheep
could exist in the mountains of Wales, and the effect of such
an intermixture would be to destroy that fineness of fleece
which is proper to the existing breeds.

V.— THE BREED OF THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS.

Ireland, from the fertility of the soil, and the mildness and
humidity of the climate, is in an eminent degree adapted to

72 THE SHEEP.

the production of the grasses, and consequently, to the rear-
ing of Sheep. It is known, that from early times Sheep were
amongst the domestic animals of the country, affording hy
their skins and fleeces covering to the inhabitants. After
the country fell under the dominion of England, the estima-
tion and importance of this native production is chiefly made
known to us by cruel laws, prohibiting the exportation of the
Avool of the country ; which, notwithstanding, found its way
in great quantity from the west of Ireland to Flanders and
other countries where a demand for it existed. There were
then no large manufactories in the country itself ; but the
inhabitants, like the Welsh, prepared their wool at home.
This system, the happiest that could be for the industry and
virtue of the people, remained even when the rural popula-
tion was undergoing an unhappy change ; and a great deal
of coarse stuff is still made in this way by the poor peasantry.
There are now also large manufactories of wool in Ireland ;
and, after supplying these, there is an extensive exportation
of the raw material and of worsted yarn to this country.

The Sheep of Ireland consist partly of mountain breeds,
and partly of a large long-woolled race, which exists, with
very uniform characters, over the greater part of the country.
This latter race, which resembled the coarser extinct breeds
of the midland and western counties of England, is not now
to be found in its unmixed state. It has undergone an entire
change by the effects of crossing, and is every where greatly
improved.

Of the Mountain Sheep of Ireland there are several breeds,
with characters more or less distinctly marked. Those of
Kerry and the west of Ireland are the most extended and
remarkable : that of the Wicklow Mountains has a more li-
mited range, but is the most valuable.

This breed inhabits the Wicklow Mountains in the county
of that name. These mountains are of considerable eleva-
tion, exposed to high winds, and possessing a humid climate.

THE BREED OF THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS. 73

Remnants only of the pure breed remain, chiefly in the vale
of Glenmalure, the original race having been very generally
crossed by the South Down and other breeds.

The Sheep of the Wicklow Mountains have an evident affi-
nity with the Sheep of Wales. They are of small size, but
of tolerably good form, and the mutton is excellent. They
are very wild, and at night steal down to the lower grounds
to pilfer the growing corn. They are destitute of horns in
both sexes. Their faces and legs are white, but there is a con-
stant tendency to the production of black lambs ; and there
cannot be a doubt that the breed, if left to itself, would be-
come wholly of that colour. A local law exists that all black
lambs shall be destroyed. The wool is soft and fine, and
somewhat long in the staple ; but it is always more or less
mixed with hairs. The* quality of the wool, however, as well
as the general character of the Sheep, varies with the eleva-
tion. In the lower rocky hills, as those which do not exceed
800 feet above the level of the sea, the wool is more fine
and less mixed with hairs. At a higher elevation, where
heath and wet bogs begin, the Sheep become smaller and
wilder. In these, a ridge of bristly hairs extends like a mane
along the neck and spine, and hair is likewise found in quan-
tity on the hips and dewlaps, as in the wilder sheep of Wales.
There is here that adaptation which is every where observed
in this species of animals, to the physical conditions of the
country in which they are naturalized. The ridge of hair
along the spine, and on the haunches and breast, causes the
moisture to fall off ; nay, the lambs are born with a provision
against the wetness of the boggy soil, there being a large
growth of hair upon the parts which are in contact with the
ground when the animals repose, namely, the breast, the
limbs, and the belly.

The county of Wicklow, lying contiguous to the capital, is
favourably situated for the rearing of Sheep, fitted for the
demand of a numerous population. The practice of rearing
lambs for early consumption has long prevailed in the dis-

74 THE SHEEP.

trict. The Sheep of the mountains are purchased by the
breeders of the lower farms. The Rams are turned amongst
the Ewes in the beginning of June, and by the end of July
the greater part of the latter are impregnated, so that the
Lambs are born in the months of December and January.
At the end of a fortnight or more they are separated from
the dams, and placed in pens in the feeding-house. The
Ewes are driven into the feeding-house twice a-day, and
those whose Lambs are dead, or have been disposed of, are
first held to be suckled, and then the Lambs are permitted
to suck their own dams. After a time they are further fed
with milk from the cow in addition to that of the Ewes. In
this manner the Lambs are fed for about six weeks, when
they are ready for use. Under this system, the inhabitants
of Dublin are supplied with as fine early lamb as any part of
the United Kingdom. The Wicklow Ewes are good nurses,
and hence are tolerably well adapted to this kind of manage-
ment. By retarding the period of receiving the male, the
Ewes are made to be impregnated in the months of summer,
and having acquired the habit, the Ewes retain it, and are
kept by the breeders as long as they will bear lambs.

From the quality of the wool, the goodness of the mutton,
and the adaptation of the females to the rearing of early
lambs, the pure Wicklow Mountain Breed was not undeserv-
ing of being preserved and cultivated. The practice of cross-
ing, however, has been introduced, and from the more im-
mediate profit which it affords, is more likely to be pursued
than a system of progressive improvement by breeding from
the native stock. The South Down Sheep have been those
chiefly employed for crossing, and are, doubtless, calculated
to produce a race greatly superior to the indigenous one. It
may be believed, however, that the Cheviot, already accli-
mated in an elevated country, would, as in the case of the
Sheep of the Welsh Mountains, have been found better
adapted to the crossing of the Sheep of these moist mountains.
Nevertheless, a perseverance in a course begun, will be bet-

THE KERRY BREED. 75

ter than & change of purpose ; and, whichever race be pre-
ferred, the effect will be beneficial, and in a few generations
the indigenous race of the Wicklow Mountains may be ex-
pected to cease to exist any where in the pure state.

The full benefits, however, of any kind of crossing cannot
be obtained, unless a better system of management is intro-
duced amongst the neglected flocks of the district. At pre-
sent, the smallness of the possessions, and the existence of
commons, are eminently unfavourable to the bringing of these
Sheep to any perfection, Their wildness of habits, is mainly
the result of the circumstances in which they are placed, and
can only be corrected by enclosures, by subdivision of flocks,
and by a regular system of management.

VI. THE KERRY BREED.

The Breeds of Sheep of Ireland may be divided into two
general Classes, those of the mountains, bogs, and moors,
and those of the plains, valleys, and richer country. In the
former class, one breed has been described, that of the Wick-
low mountains, which has been seen to be closely allied to
the ancient Sheep of Wales. The mountain breeds of other
parts of Ireland present very different characters, and so
little resemble any other breeds of Sheep in the British
Islands, that we might suppose them to have a distinct
parentage, did we not know the great changes produced in
the form and characters of the species by the agency of food,
climate, and situation. It is in the west of Ireland that we
naturally seek for the more ancient races of the country, and
we there find them mingled in blood with one another, and
with the imported varieties which have spread over the same
tracts, but in many cases presenting such characters as to
indicate the traces of distinct breeds, under the common
acceptation of the term. But it would be uninstructive to
discriminate the minor varieties. It will suffice to present

76 THE SHEEP.

an example of one, which may be regarded as the type of
several others, and whose characters lead us to conclude
that it has remained for ages in its present state.

The Kerry Breed of Sheep, notwithstanding of neglect and
insufficient food, exceeds in size the breeds of Wales, of the
Wicklow Mountains, and of many of the Old Forests of Eng-
land. The horns are generally small and crooked, and some-
times wanting in the female, although some of the allied
varieties of other parts have the horns large and spiral. The
wool is coarse, and hairy on the haunches, and to a certain
degree along the ridge on the back, but on the sides it is very
short and fine. The white colour of the fleece prevails, but
there is a constant tendency to the development of the darker
shades ; and the whole Sheep would become black and brown,
were it not for the choice by breeders of those which are
white These Sheep are in a remarkable degree wild and
restless in their habits. In shape, eye, neck, position of the
head, and general aspect, they approach to the Antelope or
Deer tribes more than any other Sheep of this country. They
fatten so slowly, that, even after they have arrived at matu-
rity of age, they require a long time to become fully fat.
They have, however, a great disposition to accumulate fat
internally, and they are fit for the butcher when their ex-
ternal appearance would indicate that they were still lean.
Their mutton is juicy and of good flavour, which causes them
to be greatly valued for domestic consumption. This is their
really valuable property, but it is not of itself sufficient to
render them deserving of extended cultivation.

Although Ireland, from the mildness of its winter and mois-
ture of the climate, is in a peculiar degree suited to the produc-
tion of the grasses and other herbaceous plants fitted for the
food of Sheep, yet a great part of the country is covered with
peat, either collected in vast beds in the plains, or rising into
eminences, or spread in thinner strata over the hills. Like
all the countries of ancient Europe, Ireland was once covered
with great forests, which neglect, and the prodigal waste of

THE KERRY BREED. 77

timber for fuel, and above all, the ravages of incessant wars,
Lave long since eradicated. Giraldus Cambrensis, who came
into Ireland after its first conquest by Henry II. in the twelfth
century, states, that the country was full of woods on every
side, but that the English, on gaining possession of it, cut
them down, partly to deprive the banditti of their lurking-
places, and partly to gain space for cultivation. For centuries
the work of destruction proceeded on every hand ; and, on the
quelling of the great Rebellion in the reign of Elizabeth, the
remaining forests were still further reduced. To the motives
which formerly operated was now added the desire of gain,
and immense ship-loads of magnificent timber were sent to
foreign parts, and many charcoal manufactories were esta-
blished. Even in the seventeenth century, the ruin of these
noble woods had not been completed. Boate, who published
his Natural History of Ireland about the middle of the cen-
tury, though he complains that many great woods which the
maps represent had vanished, still describes numbers as ex-
isting which are now no more. Speaking of the province of
Leinster, he says, that Wicklow, and King's and Queen's
counties, were throughout full of woods, some many miles
long and broad, and that part of the counties of Wexford and
Carlow were greatly furnished with them. Of Ulster, he
writes, that there were great forests in the county of Donegal,
and in the north of Tyrone ; likewise at Fermagh, along
Lake Erne, in Antrim, and in the north part of Down. The
greater part of the latter county, however, as well as Ar-
magh, Monaghan, and Cavan, which, in the war with Tyrone,
had been encumbered with thick forests, had then become
almost bare. With respect to Munster, he tells us, that the
counties of Kerry and Tipperary possessed many great
forests, notwithstanding that the English, especially the
Earl of Cork, had made great havoc with the woods.

In this manner proceeded the spoiling of the natural riches
of the beautiful Isle. The last Wolf was killed at the be-

78 THE SHEEP.

ginning of the eighteenth century, shewing that then the
destruction of the great Irish forests was nearly completed.
In the place of these verdant Woods, have arisen the dreary
Bogs which have covered so great a part of the land with
the aspect of desolation, — affording fuel, indeed, by the
sweat and toil of the miserable inhabitants, but covered
with the innutritions plants proper to peat, and affording
but a scanty sustenance to the herds and flocks that tenant
them.

The general treatment of the Sheep of the mountainous
and peaty tracts of Ireland is rude, in a degree which the
breeders of England will find it difficult to credit. Some-
times the animals are mixed in common on the peaty moun-
tains and flat bogs, where numbers of them perish from
want and disease ; and often they spread like wild beasts
over the country, stealing what they can obtain : sometimes
they are coupled together, and left to find their food as they
may, or tethered on patches of grass and rushes, or kept in
the miserable cabins of their owners. All over the west of
Ireland, from Donegal to Kerry, are to be found half-starved
Sheep, either straying in wild flocks, of every age and kind
together, or dragging one another in couples along, or fastened
where they can find any food. " Our best sort," says Mr
Sampson, in his Survey of Londonderry, *' are bought either
in the fairs of the south-western counties, or else at Dervock,
to which they are driven by jobbers from those pasture
counties. I need say nothing of them. Our own strain is
of all shapes and qualities, horned and without horns, coarse-
woolled and fine ; almost all are humpy-boned and restless.
Not long ago, one might see hundreds of Sheep travelling
from farm to farm unnoticed and unowned. Every servant
boy in the county who had a few shillings saved, laid it out
on a Sheep or two, which he let loose on the bounty of Pro-
vidence, and the toleration of his neighbourhood. Towards
May, all these flocks were driven to the mountains. In the

THE KERRY BREED. 79

time of snow, these depredators, like the locusts of Egypt,
devoured every thing before them. I have lost at one time
two thousand head of curled kale. They get no winter fod-
der but what they can steal."

These remarks applied to the smaller races of the bogs
and mountains, and are still partially applicable. The long-
woolled Sheep of the richer country are under different cir-
cumstances, and will be referred to hereafter. The means
by which the more neglected races can be improved, are the
same as in other cases have been adopted, — a system of judi-
cious crossing, or the substitution of superior breeds, and a
better system of feeding and general treatment.

But when we speak of defects in the husbandry of Ireland,
we must remember that the removal of them is not always
within the reach of common remedies. The evil may be seen,
but the source of it may lie in the condition of the people,
the state of property, and the relations between landlord and
tenant. Six hundred years ago, Ireland was subjugated by
her avaricious neighbour, and successive rebellions led to
repeated overthrows, and to renewed plunder. The country
was divided amongst the conquerors and their adherents, and
for ages a great part of the disposable produce was with-
drawn. Absenteeism became the habit of the favoured few ;
and at this hour, a larger tribute is thus imposed upon the
industry of the country than any conqueror ever imposed
upon a subject colony ; and the country is poor, her labourers
are unemployed, and her population is discontented, notwith-
standing that she exports the largest quantity of raw produce
of any country in the world of the same extent. One effect
results from this destitution, that there is no barrier between
the tenant and the demands of the receiver of rents. In
England, the habits and condition of the people are opposed
to an excessive exaction on the industry of the farmer. The
English yeoman will not take land at all unless he has the
means to live, and to obtain a fitting return from his capital

80 THE SHEEP.

in trade. The Irish peasant must take land in order that
he may subsist, and is compelled to share his pittance with
another to the uttermost residue that will permit himself to
live. Hence the rents in Ireland are larger, in proportion to
the means of payment, than in any country in Europe. While
this defective relation exists between the landlord and tenant,
—while the disposable produce of the land is expended out
of the country which it should enrich, and away from the
poor man whom it should employ, — while the land is parcelled
out in order that excessive rents may be wrung from those
that till it, — while the pecuniary claims of the landlord or
middle men are more directly answered by means of peasants
content to subsist on the scantiest pittance, than by the in-
dustry of tenants possessed of means to improve the land, —
we must expect that the resources of the country will be
imperfectly developed, and that poor and wretched husband-
men, as well as miserable breeds of Sheep, will possess it.

VII.— THE FOREST BREEDS OF ENGLAND.

England, like the sister Island, was once covered with
noble forests, which gradually fell before the ravages of war,
and the progress of the settler. But, on the conquest of the
Normans, vast tracts of fine country were retained in the
state in which they then existed, for the purposes of the
chase, but retaining the names of forests, chases, and other
denominations indicative of their original nature, and the
purposes to which they had been applied ; such were Windsor
Forest, Sherburne Forest, Mendip Forest, and many more.
Even to the reign of Elizabeth, a large part of the whole sur-
face of England was in the state of forest ; but, in place of
vast tracts reserved for the capricious sports of the sove-
reign, or the great feudatories, the unoccupied grounds had

THE FOREST BREEDS OF ENGLAND. 81

been gradually settled upon, acquired by individuals through
royal grants and otherwise, or left in a state of common pro-
perty, in which inhabitants of towns or the neighbouring
country acquired the privilege of pasturage and other rights.
The Royal Forests were by degrees reduced to a small ex-
tent, as compared with their former state, and are .now partly
planted for the supply of naval timber ; and, with respect to
the Commons, these have been long in the course of division,
under the sanction of Acts of Parliament.

The native Sheep kept on these forests and larger com-
mons often acquired distinctive characters, forming well-de-
fined breeds. Of these several yet remain, and, until late in
the last century, they were very numerous. Most of them,
however, are no longer to be recognised as separate varie-
ties, and few of them remain without intermixture with the
Sheep of the adjoining country. They were generally of
small size and defective form, but had usually short fine
wool, suited for the manufacture of cloths. Their faces and
legs were sometimes white, but generally black, gray, or dun :
they had usually horns, but sometimes the horns were want-
ing in one or both sexes. They were wild and thriftless,
but, like all the smaller unimproved races, yielded excellent
mutton. The cultivation of the forests, in all cases, caused
the substitution of superior breeds ; and, even where cultiva-
tion did not take place, the interests of the owners led them
to cross their flocks with the superior breeds of the cultivated
country.

In the poorer and more elevated parts of the counties of
Stafford, Leicester, Cheshire, Shropshire, and others, are still
to be found the remains of old Forest Sheep, distinguished
by black or gray faces and legs, and yielding short clothing
wool. Those of Cannock Chase yet exist, though they have
been mostly crossed. They are destitute of horns in both
sexes, and the wool weighs from 2 to 31b. the fleece. The
Sheep, likewise, of the ancient Forest of Belamere in Che-
shire are still in existence : they are the type of the old

82 THE SHEEP.

Sheep of Shropshire, and approach to the general form of the
Southdown.

Of the Forest Breeds, two remarkable ones yet exist in
the elevated country between the Bristol and British Chan-
nels, the one inhabiting the heathy tract of granite forming
the Forest of Dartmoor, the other the district of greywacke
of the Forest of Exmoor, at the sources of the river Exe, on
the confines of Somerset and Devon. These two races have
long attracted attention, from their having supplied the well-
known Oakhampton mutton, so named from the sheep having
been killed at that town, whence the carcasses are sent to
London. But the Oakhampton mutton now not only includes
that of the Forest Sheep, but that of the crosses between
them and other breeds.

The Dartmoor Sheep are very small in size, and, like the
Sheep of Wales, have long soft wool, in which respect they
differ from the other Forest Breeds. The faces and legs are
white, and the males have horns. They are exceedingly
wild and restless. They are reared in their native pastures
of heath, and fattened in the lower country. They will re-
main feeding in the valleys in winter, but no sooner does the
vegetation of spring commence than they seek to regain their
native pastures, and endeavour to break through the fences
opposed to their return ; and even the crosses retain this
instinct of the race.

These Sheep produce mutton which bears a high price, and
are constitutionally well suited to the barren undrained dis-
trict to which they are indigenous; but yet they are an
unprofitable race of Sheep, from their small size, defective
form, and, above all, their wild and restless temper. The im-
mediate profit from crossing them has been so great, that the
pure breed is rapidly diminishing in numbers, and will soon
become extinct. The principal breeds with which they have
been crossed are the Leicester and South Down. The Leices-
ter cross is preferred, being more hardy than that with the
Southdowns, which seem to amalgamate less freely with the

THE FOREST BREEDS OF ENGLAND. 83

long-woolled breeds of Wales and the west of England, than
even the long-woolled breeds of the plains.

The Exmoor Sheep are yet smaller, more wild, and more
intractable than the Dartmoor. The district they inhabit,
near the Bristol Channel, is of limited extent. Although
their habitat is so near to that of the Dartmoors, they pos-
sess their own characters, and so may be termed a breed.
The males have a large beard under the chin, from which
cause they have the aspect of Goats ; and they have much of
the agility and strength of these animals. Like Goats, they
ascend precipices, and are with difficulty confined by ordinary
walls and fences. They are very bold, attacking Sheep much
larger than themselves. The females, as in the case of other
wild breeds, are considerably smaller than the males, from
whom they receive the roughest treatment. The wool of
these curious Sheep is long and silky, and their mutton is
excellent. Like the Dartmoors, they are disappearing in
their pure state, from the effects of crossing, and have even,
in some cases, given entire place to the Cheviots, which
have been introduced into the district, and are found in all
respects superior to the native stock.

A race of Sheep, of allied characters to the Exmoor,
stretches westward along the Bristol Channel to the rich
country on the Parret ; and even on the Mendip hills, to the
eastward, traces of the Exmoor form appear in the races of
the country. On the great Forest of Mendip, the Sheep were
formerly distinguished by the fineness of their wool ; but,
with the enclosure of the forest, the ancient race ceased to
exist in a state of purity.

Of the various Forest Breeds of England, none is now
likely to be cultivated in the pure state, because a long course
of careful breeding would be required to communicate the
suitable development of form, and because superior breeds
have now been produced, which can either be made to cross
the original ones, or be substituted for them. But it is to be
regretted that earlier attention was not directed to some

84 THE SHEEP.

of these races, which possess fine wool, and which, by being
acclimated in a lower country, would have increased in size
and economical value. Some of the Forest Sheep of Stafford-
shire were at least equal to the original Southdowns ; and,
had they been cultivated with the same care, might have
been extended to districts to which the Southdowns, bred in
a country of chalk and fine herbage, are less adapted.

VIII — THE BLACK-FACED HEATH BREED.

From the high lands of Derbyshire on the south, to the
confines of Scotland on the north, extends a chain of rugged
heathy mountains, whose summit ridge separates the waters
of the Tyne, the Tees, the Swale, the Wharfe, and other
rivers which flow to the eastward, from those of the Bibble,
the Lowther, the Lune, and others which flow westward. The
elevation of this tract is from 1200 to 3000 feet, the highest
summits being Cross Fell, near the sources of the South Tyne
and Tees, on the eastern part of Cumberland ; Skinner Fell,
on the confines of Yorkshire and Westmoreland ; Wharnside
and others in the westerly part of Yorkshire. This central
chain is separated from the yet higher mountains of Cum-
berland and Westmoreland on the west, by the beautiful
vales of Kendal and Eden. The tract is destitute of bold-
ness and grandeur, and, towards the east, passes into the
tame moors of Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire.
This dreary tract is generally covered with coarse heaths,
mixed with sedges, rushes, and the less nutritious grasses,
and, from being exposed to the winds of both the eastern and
western seas, possesses a cold climate. It has given rise to
a race of Sheep now very widely diffused. This race has
been termed the Black-faced Heath Breed, a name which,
though it does not distinguish it from some of the Forest
Breeds, may be retained, as indicating its peculiar habitat in
a country of heaths.

THE BLACK-FACED HEATH BREED. 85

The Black-faced Heath Breed is chiefly found in the more
northerly division of the chain of mountains referred to, be-
ginning in the heathy lands of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
It extends across the vales of Kendal and Eden to the higher
mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland on the west,
and by the Carter Fell into Scotland, where it occupies the
great range of the greywacke hills stretching from St Abb's
Head on the east to the Irish Channel on the west. It
stretches through the upper part of Lanarkshire into Argyle-
shire, and all through the Highlands of Scotland, from the
Grampians to the Pentland Firth. It has spread to all the
Hebrides, and even to the Islands of Orkney and Zetland.

This breed may be supposed to have found its way into
Scotland by the mountains of the north of England. It has
been settled for a period unknown in all the high lands of
the countries of Roxburgh, Dumfries, Selkirk, Peebles, La-
nark, and the adjoining districts. Tradition asserts that it
was introduced into Etterick Forest by one of the Kings of
Scotland, but it is rather to be believed that it found its way
into the Border counties by the natural route of the moun-
tains. Its introduction into Argyleshire, and the Central and
Northern Highlands, has been of very recent origin, having
taken place about the middle of last century, when Sheep
began to supersede the herds of cattle which then abounded
in the Highlands. By degrees, it displaced the ancient races
of the country, of which only scattered remnants now exist.

The Black-faced Heath Breed possesses characters which
distinguish it from every other in the British Islands. It is of
the smaller races of Sheep with respect to the weight at which
it arrives, but it is larger and more robust than the Zetland,
the Welsh, and the ancient Soft-woolled Sheep which it dis-
placed. It somewhat resembles the Persian, so that it might
be conjectured that it is derived from the East. But it is
more natural to assume that its peculiar characters have been
communicated to it by the effects of food and climate, in the

86 THE SHEEP.

• •

rough heathy district from which it is derived. The male and
the female have horns, very large and spirally twisted in the
male, but sometimes disappearing in the female. The limbs
are long and muscular, and the general form is robust ; but
the shoulders are not so low as in the Welsh breeds, nor are
the posterior limbs so long. The face and legs are black,
and there is a tendency to this colour in the fleece ; but there
is no tendency to the brown or russet colour, which distin-
guishes the older fine-woolled races. The fur is shaggy and
the wool coarse, in which respect it differs from that of all
the other mountain breeds of the country. It is of medium
length, and weighs about three pounds the fleece when washed.
These Sheep are very hardy, and capable of subsisting on the
coarsest heaths. They do not, however, like the Sheep of
Wales, prefer the summits of mountains, but feed wherever
pasture can be obtained ; and are not so nice in the choice
of herbage as the Southdown s, Merinos, and other races de-
rived from countries yielding the finer grasses. Although
wild and independent in their habits, they are not so restless
as the mountain Sheep of Wales and other parts, but can be
induced to remain in enclosures, when sufficient food is sup-
plied to them. The ordinary weight of the wethers, when
killed at the age of about four years, is fifteen pounds the
quarter ; but individuals are made to exceed this weight,
when properly treated and sufficiently fed from an early age.
The mutton is not so delicate as that of the Sheep of Wales,
or the Southdowns of England, but it is more juicy, has more
of the venison flavour, and is preferred to every other by
those who are used to it. It is the mutton which is princi-
pally consumed in all the larger towns of Scotland ; and great
numbers of the Sheep, at the age of three years and up*
wards, are carried to the pastures of the south, to be fattened
for the English markets.

An important property of this breed is its adaptation to a
country of heaths, in which respect it excels every other. It

THE BLACK-FACED HEATH BliEED. 87

is this property, as much as its hardiness, that has rendered
it so suitable to the heathy mountains where it is acclimated,
and where it finds subsistence beyond the ordinary range of
other Sheep. It feeds on the loftiest mountains, up to the
very verge where the heaths give place to the musci and
other plants of the higher latitudes. Feeding much on the
shoots of heath, these Sheep find subsistence, in the times of
snow and severe frosts, better than any other in this country.
The mothers are hardy nurses, and are able to bring up their
young, when they themselves have been exposed to severe
privations. A great defect of this breed is the character of
the fleece, which, besides being thin on the body, yields wool
fit only for the manufacture of carpets and the coarser stuffs.
Little general attention has been paid to the quality of the
fleece, although it is susceptible of considerable improvement.
A defect of the wool, very common in this breed, is the ex-
istence of what are termed kemps. These consist of hard
and wiry filaments mixed with the pile. They are deficient
in the felting property, and in the oily secretion which
moistens the true wool. The removal of kemps is effected
by superior food, and by breeding from parents free from the
defect. Sometimes individuals of this breed are born with
wool which is fine and short. Were advantage taken of this
occurrence, it might be possible, by means of breeding, to
produce a variety with fine in place of coarse wool.

This breed, extending over a great variety of situation and
soils, from the moist moors of Yorkshire and other parts to
the rocky mountains of the north of Scotland, presents a
great diversity of size and aspect. In some of the lower and
less heathy moors both of England and Scotland, the Sheep
have so far deviated from the ordinary type, as to have lost
their horns, and the black colour of the legs and face. This
variety is generally of smaller size, and less hardy habits,
than those which are naturalized on the drier mountains of
abundant heath. The best of the breed are found in Tweed-
dale in Scotland, which may be partly due to the nature of

88 THE SHEEP.

the country, and partly to the superior care bestowed in
breeding. Those existing in the hills of Cumberland, West-
moreland, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, are much inferior to
those of the Border counties of Scotland. Over a great part
of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, the breed has de-
generated, from the want of care, and from insufficient food.
In many of these situations, indeed, the stock may be said
to be mixed, for it has been the result of crosses with the
original races. This is in an especial manner the case in
the Hebrides, where the animals are small, and every way in-
ferior to the genuine Heath Breed.

The treatment of this hardy race of Sheep has a necessary
relation to the circumstances of the country in which it is
produced. The breeder of the Sheep is not usually the per-
son who fattens them for use. He rears them to the age
which suits the nature of his farm, and disposes of them to
others who have farms on which they can be kept till they
have arrived at the proper age for being fattened. They are
then disposed of to the graziers and farmers, whose pastures,
or means of supplying artificial food, enable them to prepare
them for the butcher. This species of transfer is continually
going on, and the numerous fairs of the country are the marts
to which vast flocks of these Sheep are brought at different
times. They find their way to the ultimate markets of con-
sumption at various ages, but mostly when between three
and four years old, and when the mutton has arrived at its
greatest perfection in juiciness and flavour. Increasing
numbers of them are now carried to the markets of London
and other great towns, aided by the facilities of intercourse
afforded by steam navigation.

The means of rearing these numerous Sheep are afforded
by the stocks of ewes maintained on the farms of the breeders,
the number of each flock of ewes depending on the quality
and extent of the natural pastures, and the age to which the
progeny is reared on the breeding-farm. Thus, when the
Sheep are sold when lambs or hoggets, the proportion of

THE BLACK-FACED HEATH BREED. 89

ewes is in a corresponding degree larger than when the pro-
geny is kept to the age of wethers. In general, one shep-
herd is reckoned sufficient for twenty-five scores of ewes, but
for a much greater number of young sheep and wethers.

The rams are admitted to the ewes about the 22d of No-
vember, so that the season of lambing may not begin before
the tardy vegetation of spring may be expected. During the
months of winter, the pregnant ewes are suffered to range
over those parts of the farm where food can be picked up ;
the rushes, sedges, and other herbaceous plants mixed with
the heaths, affording a scanty subsistence, rendered precari-
ous by the falls of snow which often cover these dreary wastes
for weeks or months at a time. The artificial provender that
can be supplied is confined to a little coarse hay during deep
snows, but even this is often wanting, and all the food sup-
plied is what the animals can collect on their natural pas-
tures. These wild and hardy Sheep, however, dig up the
snowy surface to reach the herbs beneath, and support life
under circumstances in which the more delicate races would
perish. Yet, as it is, many die from the inclemency of the
weather and the want of food, and numbers often are over-
whelmed by falls of snow so sudden and violent that there is
no escape. In districts where the mountains are of less
elevation, and artificial shelter can be supplied, the condi-
tion of these mountain flocks is in a corresponding degree
less precarious ; but, generally, they are placed in situations
which subject them to the evil of frequent destitution.

When the season of lambing arrives, the ewes are often
in a very emaciated condition ; but such good and hardy
nurses are these mountain Sheep, that they are able to bring
up their young under privations which few other breeds
could contend against. The shearing of them takes place
about the beginning of July. The ewes, as well as the
other grown sheep on the farm, are driven to a river or
pool, and made to leap from the bank and swim across.
The same care is rarely bestowed on washing these wild

90 THE SHEEP.

Sheep as in the case of the finer breeds. In a few days
after being washed they are shorn. After the middle of
July, or about three months from the birth, the lambs are
separated from the mothers. This is done simply by re-
moving them to another part of the farm. In a short time
they forget one another, and the milk of the dam ceases to
be secreted. It was formerly the universal practice to milk
the ewes for six or seven weeks, or even more, after the
lambs were weaned. This practice is now considerably dis-
used in the districts where the management of Sheep is the
best understood, it being found that the profit from the milk
is rarely compensated by the disturbance of the flock, and
the exhaustion of the ewes previous to the perilous season
of winter.

The lambs on being weaned become, in the language of
farmers, hoggets or hogs. The wether hogs may then be
disposed of, and such of the ewe hogs as are not to be re-
tained for the purpose of supplying the place of the old ewes,
which, after having borne lambs for three or four years, are
to be disposed of. After the lambs are weaned, such of the
ewes as have borne the proper number of lambs are selected,
and sold in the course of the autumn. When the young
Sheep are not disposed of in the first year, they are kept
until the second year, and sometimes until the third or fourth
years. Their treatment while on the farm is the same as
that of the ewes.

A practice exists in the case of these mountain Sheep, the
utility of which is proved by long experience, of anointing
the skins previous to the months of winter. The substances
generally used are tar and butter, prepared by boiling the
butter and tar together. The proportions used vary in dif-
ferent districts. In some places, six pounds of butter, and
one gallon of tar, are used for twenty Sheep, and in others
the quantity of tar is larger. The period of smearing is the
end of October or beginning of November. The method is
to separate the wool by the finger, and spread the ointment

THE BLACK-FACED HEATH BREED. 91

longitudinally from head to tail, so that the whole body shall
be covered. The purpose served by the process is to re-
move insects and cutaneous diseases, and to defend the skin
from wetness. It is peculiarly beneficial in the case of this
breed, whose fur is less close and fine than that of any other
Sheep. The effect, however, is to diminish the value of the
wool, by staining it with the colouring matter of the tar,
which renders it less fitted for receiving the brighter colours
in dyeing. But it increases the weight of the fleece, and
conduces in so great a degree to the health of the animals,
by rendering them less liable to be injured by the coldness
and humidity to which they are exposed, that, whatever
doubts may exist of the expediency of the practice in the
case of other mountain breeds, experience shews its import-
ance in the case of this one all over the stormy countries
which it inhabits.

This breed does not seem to amalgamate very readily with
other races, so that crossing has not generally been success-
ful as a means of permanent improvement. It has been
frequently crossed by the Cheviot, but the descendants have
been found inferior in weight, form, and quality of wool, to
the pure Cheviots, and to the Black-faced Heath Breed in
hardiness and aptitude to thrive in an upland country of
heaths. But as it is not always deemed safe to change a
stock of Sheep habituated to their locality, the practice of a
continued crossing with the Cheviot, until the flock has
acquired the characters of the latter, has been sometimes
adopted, so that the original Black-faced stock has become in
time almost Cheviot. Another species of crossing has been
remarkably successful, namely, the employing of males of the
Leicester or South Down breeds for a first cross. The lambs,
the result of this mixture, are excellent, rising to a much
.greater weight than those of the pure Black-faced blood.
Great numbers of this mixed race are now produced, and an
increased source of profit is thus opened to breeders by the
sale of their young Sheep. Of these crosses, the best has

92 THE SHEEP.

been found to be with the Leicesters. That with the South-
downs produces very handsome Sheep, having perfectly black
faces and legs, and a close good fleece ; but they scarcely
attain the size of the Leicester crosses, and the latter ac-
cordingly are preferred for the special purpose for which
this species of breeding is designed.

Seeing the large tract of country which is occupied by
this breed, it is of great importance toamprove it to the de-
gree to which it is susceptible. This, as in other cases, may
be done by due selection of the breeding parents, and by
rearing the animals under circumstances favourable to the
full development of their forms. By adopting this practice,
we have in every case the means of improving a breed of
Sheep. Adequate nourishment is essential to the enlarge-
ment of size ; and all the properties of form, which consist
with the character of the race, may be communicated and
rendered permanent by a due attention to breeding. The
wool of this breed being of small comparative value, the at-
tention of improvers may be mainly directed to the carcass.
By attending to the roundness of the trunk and breadth of
the chest, we not only produce animals which more readily
fatten, but which are more hardy ; for in the case of all
breeds, it is found that narrow-chested and flat- sided ani-
mals are less vigorous, and more subject to diseases, than
such as have the body round and the chest wide.

It is painful, however, to state, that this breed, so widely
diffused, has been treated with comparative neglect. Vari-
ous breeders have distinguished themselves by their atten-
tion to the form of the animals, and have reaped the reward
in the superior character of their stock ; but, over the wide
tract of country which the breed occupies, it is far inferior in
economical value to that to which, by due attention, it might
arrive. Breeders would find it for their interest to procure
rams from the southern counties of Scotland, and from the
stocks of the breeders whose farms are good, and who have
paid the most attention to the character of their stock.

THE CHEVIOT BREED. 93

The Black-faced Heath Breed, after having displaced the
former races of a large tract of country, has itself, in the
natural course of improvement, been giving way to another
mountain breed of different characters. This is the breed
of the Cheviot mountains, likewise derived from a high and
stormy country, but reared under circumstances more favour-
able with respect to the supplies of food, possessing fine and
not coarse wool, and cultivated with greater attention on the
breeding farms. But the hardier Heath Breed is still the
more suitable to a great extent of country, where the preva-
lent herbage is heath, and still therefore merits the careful
attention of a numerous class of breeders.

IX.— THE CHEVIOT BREED.

The Cheviot Breed of Sheep is derived from a district of por-
phyry, situated in the north of Northumberland, and extend-
ing into Scotland, forming the mountains termed Cheviot.
These mountains are in contact with the rugged country of
heath, which has been seen to be the habitat of the Black-
faced Breed ; But the true Cheviot district is limited in extent,
and differs greatly in its character from the heathy wastes
adjoining. It is composed of a range of beautiful mountains
tending to the conical, and mostly covered with grasses, ferns,
wild thyme, and other plants distinctive of trap, often to the
very summit. They are frequently in contact at their bases,
or separated from one another by narrow valleys. While
they pass on one side into the district of heaths, they are
connected on the other with a rich cultivated country. Their
highest summit is 2658 feet above the level of the sea, and
they are frequently capped with snow long after it has dis-
appeared from the lower grounds.

This district has produced, from time immemorial, a race
of Sheep entirely distinct in its characters from the Wild

94 THE SHEEP.

Heath Breed of the elevated moors adjoining. The Cheviot
Sheep are destitute of horns in the male and female : their
faces and legs are white, exceptions merely occurring in the
case of individuals in which these parts are dun. The body
is very closely covered with wool, which is short and suffi-
ciently fine for the making of certain cloths. The two shear-
wethers, when fat, may weigh, on a medium, from sixteen to
eighteen pounds the quarter, though with great differences,
dependent on the natural productiveness of the pastures, and
the method of treatment when young. The ewes are usually
reckoned to weigh from twelve to fourteen pounds the quarter,
though with such differences as depend on the nature of the
soil and pastures, and the method of treatment. The mutton
of these sheep is very good, though inferior in delicacy to that
of the South Down and Welsh Sheep, and in flavour to that of
the Black-faced Heath Breed. Their natural form is, like that
of all mountain breeds, with a light fore-quarter ; but this cha-
racter is removed by the effects of breeding, and the modern
Cheviots are of good form. The body is somewhat longer
than is usually the case with the Heath Breed, which has
given rise to the popular distinction, in districts where both
breeds are cultivated, of Long and Short Sheep. They are
larger in the lower countries, where a supply of turnips can
be given : they are lighter in the more elevated tracts, where
artificial food is scanty, or wanting. The breeders adopt the
kind of animal which is suited to the pastures, preferring a
short-legged larger Sheep for the lower farms, and one of
lighter and more agile form for the more upland and colder.
The Cheviot Sheep are of quiet habits, possessing, indeed,
the independence of a mountain race, but having none of the
indocility which distinguishes some other races. They are
exceedingly hardy, their close covering of fine wool enabling
them to resist the extremes of cold. They feed more on the
grasses, and less on the shoots of heath, than the Black-faced
Breed, and hence they are less adapted to a country of entire

THE CHEVIOT BREED. 95

heath, and require a larger range of pastures to support an
equal number of animals.

The Cheviot Sheep have spread from their native mountains
to a large extent of country. They now cover a great part of
the elevated moors from which the Black-faced Heath Sheep
were derived. They have spread over the southern moun-
tains of Scotland, supplanting to a great extent the Heath
Breed, which previously existed. They have been carried be-
yond the Grampians to the extreme north of Scotland, where
they are reared in increasing numbers. To the late Sir John
Sinclair is due the honour of having first carried them to
the county of Caithness. But in some cases they have been
placed in situations to which the coarser Heath Breed would
have been better adapted, and many farmers, after experi-
ence of the effect, have reverted to the ancient race. The
breed, however, has a greatly more extensive range than has
yet been assigned to it ; for it is evident that the Cheviot,
like every breed of Sheep, has the property of adapting itself
to the country in which it is naturalized. Thus, the Sheep
which are reared in the north of Scotland must give birth to
a hardier race than is produced in the lower mountains of the
south ; and thus we may expect to see the range of the breed
gradually extended, and narrowing the bounds occupied by
the coarser Black-faced. The extension that has already
taken place of this hardy breed, must be regarded as having
been of singular benefit to breeders and the country. It has
been recently carried to the west of England and Wales, and
has every where been found suited to a cold and mountain-
ous country. In its native country of the Cheviot Hills, it
has been cultivated with great care by a class of breeders
inferior to none in the kingdom for intelligence and enter-
prise ; and thus breeders from every part of the kingdom
have the power of resorting to the native districts of the
breed, for the means of maintaining their stocks in a state of
purity.

The wool of this breed weighs about three and a half pounds

96 THE SHEEP.

the fleece. It formerly used to be employed for the making
of cloths ; but, from the extensive employment of the Merino
wool of Saxony and Spain, it is now scarcely employed for
this purpose, and is prepared by the process of combing in
place of carding, for the coarser manufactures. The atten-
tion of breeders, too, having been mainly directed to the fat-
tening properties of the animal, the wool has diminished in
fineness, though it has increased in length and weight. Its
quality varies somewhat with the pastures, being finer where
the shorter grasses prevail, and coarser where the herbage is
rough and heathy.

The management of the Cheviot resembles that of the
Black-faced Heath Sheep ; but as, for the most part, they
occupy a lower range of mountains, better means exist of sup-
plying them with food during the inclement season of winter.

They are suffered to range over the grounds assigned to
them, and their artificial food is only subsidiary to the natural
herbage of the farm. It is supplied chiefly during falls of
snow, and consists either of the hay of the cultivated grasses
or clovers, where this can be obtained, or is the produce of
the swamps and perennial meadows of the farm. When tur-
nips can be produced, these likewise are supplied at the fit-
ting times. The breeder of these Sheep, as in the case of
the Black-faced Heath Breed, is not necessarily the person
who feeds them for ultimate use. He rears them to a cer-
tain age, and then transfers them to those whose farms enable
them to bring them to the required maturity. This consti-
tutes the great traffic between the farmers of the higher and
lower country, and is a fitting division of labour and employ-
ment. Sometimes, indeed, the breeder of these Sheep, by
possessing low and cultivated ground, or otherwise, is en-
abled to combine the practices of rearing and fattening ; but
the essential destination of the higher farms is the rearing
and not the fattening of stock, and the two occupations,
though they may be combined, are essentially distinct. The
stock often passes through several intervening graziers and

THE CHEVIOT 13KEED.

feeders, before it is fattened for ultimate use. In general,
the Cheviot Sheep are fattened at an earlier age than the
Black-faced Heath Sheep, partly on account of the greater
precocity of the animals, but chiefly on account of the supe-
rior treatment which they receive when young. The Cheviot
breeder may sell his Sheep in the first year when hoggets,
but very generally in the second year, either when they re-
tain their fleece and are still hoggets, or after they are
divested of their fleece and are shearlings, or, in the lan-
guage of the northern farmer, dinmonts and gimmers. They
are rarely fattened when shearlings, the usual period being
after they have lost their second fleece, and are wethers. The
ewes, after having borne lambs for several years, generally
three, are sold, and their place supplied by the younger
females reared on the farm, which at that time are in the
autumn of the second year, and about nineteen months
old.

The rams are usually admitted to the ewes about the
20th of November, so that the season of lambing may com-
mence in the early part of April. One ram is assigned to
sixty ewes.

The ewes, during the period of gestation, feed on the
natural pastures of the farm, but, on the falling of heavy
snows, receive a supply of hay, which may be spread upon
the surface. But the Sheep have a wonderful faculty of
collecting their food, even when all the ground is covered,
by scraping away the snow with their feet, and they prefer
this natural food to the dried provender. When turnips as
well as hay are produced on the farm, the ewes receive them
likewise during falls of snow ; but it is especially at the
period of lambing, and during its continuance, that this spe-
cies of food is supplied.

When the period of lambing arrives, all the vigilance of
the shepherds is required. Sometimes the ewes are so en-
feebled by want of food, and the inclemency of the weather,
that they have not milk sufficient to nourish their young, and

yo THE SHEEP.

then the maternal feeling seems to become extinct. But this
latter accident is of partial occurrence, and it is rare that the
mothers altogether abandon their young. Sometimes the
lambs, at their birth, are so weak that they cannot rise from
the ground, and thus perish. In such cases, the shepherd is
at hand to assist the young to the teat, and often he takes
the ewe with her young to a place of shelter, where they can
be more carefully tended. When a ewe dies, and it is wished
to give her lamb to one that has lost her own young, or when
a ewe has twins, and it is wished to give one of them to be
suckled by another whose own lamb has perished, some art
is often required to induce the ewe to adopt the stranger.
The most common method is to confine them together to a
narrow space, holding the lamb to the teat until it has been
suckled. In certain cases, when the lamb of any ewe has
perished, its skin is taken off and put on the lamb to be
adopted. The ewe, deceived by the smell of her own off-
spring, suffers herself to be sucked, and from that time for-
ward adopts the little orphan, and treats it with all the kind-
ness of the natural parent. It is of painful interest to see a
ewe, whose lamb has perished, mourning over its little one,
and refusing to leave it or be comforted. If the dead body
is dragged along the ground, the poor mother will follow it
even into the cot of the shepherd, fiercely driving away the
dogs or sheep that approach it. Even when the ewes them-
selves are in the agonies of death, they will be seen calling
piteously to their young ones, and offering them the last store
of milk with which Nature has furnished them. When the
ewes have twins, and thus have two lambs to nurse, it is
usual to give them a more liberal supply of food. It is held
to be convenient to have an enclosure of early grass near the
place of lambing or the shepherd's cottage, to which ewes
with twins, such as have too little milk, and such as are sick
and infirm, or from any cause require more careful attend-
ance than the rest of the flock, may be taken. Though va-
rious ewes produce twins, it is regarded as a favourable cir-

THE CHEVIOT BREED.

cumstance in the case of this class of Sheep, in the more
mountain districts, when one lamb can be reared for each
ewe of the flock. It is thought to be well when eighteen or
nineteen lambs can be brought up for every twenty ewes.

The time of shearing these Sheep is from the middle of
June to the beginning of July. The precise period is denoted
by the wool being fully grown, and separating readily from
the skin when pulled. The Sheep are first washed, which
is done by men standing in the pool, and washing each Sheep
separately, or more generally, when the flock is large, by
causing them to swim two or three times through the water
to the opposite bank. After being washed, they are kept as
much as possible on ground where they can be prevented from
rubbing on banks, or otherwise soiling their wool. In two
days, if there be no rain, they are shorn, but it is generally
thought better to wait seven or eight days, in which case the
unctuous secretion which protects the wool has again been
formed. As soon as each Sheep is shorn, it is usually marked
with a stamp dipped in boiling tar thickened with pitch. The
mark is made on different parts of the body, as the near
shoulder, the far shoulder, the near haunch, the far haunch,
so that the different kinds and ages of the Sheep may be
known at a glance.

Soon after shearing the ewes, the lambs are weaned, which
is simply effected by a short separation of them from the
dams. The lambs are now, in the language of farmers, hog-
gets or hogs, under the respective denominations of tup-hogs,
wether-hogs, and ewe-hogs. The tup-hogs intended for use
upon the farm or sale, and such of the ewe-hogs as are designed
for receiving the male in the following year, are retained.
The remainder of the ewe-hogs, and all the wether-hogs, are
either now disposed of, or kept throughout the winter and
sold in the following year, either, as has been observed, pre-
vious to the period of shearing, when they are still hogs, or
after having lost their fleece, when they are dinmonts and

100 THE SHEEP.

gimmers. Sometimes they are kept until they have yielded
a second fleece. All the old ewes which have borne the re-
quired number of lambs are disposed of before winter, and
not only such ewes as are old, but such as are of bad form,
or which it is wished for any cause to get rid of. The hogs
which are retained are treated in the same manner as the
breeding ewes, except that it is common to put them on
some grassy and sheltered part of the farm where they can
be best pastured. They receive hay in falls of snow, and, if
possible, turnips are supplied to them during the whole win-
ter, which may be done at the rate of a cart-load per day for
every seven or eight scores.

The practice of smearing the skins before winter with tar,
was formerly in more general use in the case of this breed
of Sheep than it has since become. It is now chiefly con-
fined to the- more elevated districts, or the more northern
counties. The disuse of the practice has arisen, not on ac-
count of any experience of its inefficiency as a preservative
to the health of the animals, but on account of the injury to
the quality of the wool, occasioned by the tarry ingredient.
On this account, substitutes for the tar are now very gene-
rally employed. These are, olive oil mixed with turpentine,
impure naphtha, commonly called spirits of tar, or other
substances, which serve the purpose of destroying vermin
and removing cutaneous affections, but which are scarcely
so efficient for preserving health as the old mixture.

In the modern management of these Sheep, a principle
observed is to suffer them as much as possible to pasture
undisturbed. On this account the dividing of the stock of
the farm into a number of flocks or hirsels, to each of which
is assigned a certain range of pasturage, is much less used
than formerly. The practice of folding Sheep at night, for
the purpose of manuring parts of the farm, is now abandoned
by all who are conversant with the proper management of
this kind of Sheep. The practice, too, of milking the ewes

THE CHEVIOT BREED.

101

for several weeks after the lambs are weaned, is now very
much given up, experience shewing, that the exhaustion and
disturbance of ewes render them less fitted to withstand the
privations and severities of winter, and to nourish their
young when the season of parturition arrives. It is usual,
however, to milk the ewes after weaning for a few days, so
as to run them dry by degrees. In cases where the practice
of milking for several weeks is adopted, the milk is churned
for the use of the farm; and twenty ewes will yield five
pounds of butter in the week.

The number of Sheep assigned to the care of one shepherd
is from 400 to 500. When the flock consists wholly of ewes,
this number is as much as one man can conveniently manage,
but when the flock consists of hoggets and shearlings, one
shepherd may manage 700 or 800. An average allowance
for one shepherd is 400 ewes and 200 hoggets.

To the shepherd of these mountainous countries, the ser-
vices of the Dog are indispensable. Without this faithful
creature, his individual labour would be insufficient to collect
the animals from distant parts, drive them in flocks, or per-
form the other innumerable services required. The breed
of Dogs used in the mountains of Cheviot, and the pastoral
districts of Scotland, is of small size and homely exterior,
but adapted in an eminent degree to the services to be per-
formed. For sagacity and fidelity, these humble Dogs cannot
be surpassed ; they understand the language of their master,
and almost seem to divine his thoughts. Their whole habits
seem fashioned to the life they lead. When taken from their
natural pursuits, their spirit seems to droop, or at least they
never manifest, in other situations, that matchless sagacity
which distinguishes them in the occupation of the shepherd
life.

The entire management of these and the other mountain
Sheep of the northern part of Britain, has no parallel, it is
believed, in the same latitudes in Europe. In no other

102 THE SHEEP.

country, similarly situated with respect to climate, are the
Sheep kept so entirely exposed to the inclemencies of the
weather, without the shelter of pens and houses. The ab-
sence of Wolves is the cause of that freedom which is allowed
to these mountain flocks ; and the shepherds have been taught
by experience, that the animals may be exposed by night as
well as by day without harm. Were these Sheep managed
as in other parts of the Continent of Europe, penned and fed
in houses, and prevented from taking their natural food, the
mountains of the country could not maintain one-fourth part
of the present numbers.

The great desiderata sought for in the elevated countries
of these mountain Sheep, are the supply of food and shelter
in winter. The essential food, when the ground is covered
with snow, is hay ; a field or more being formed, one of which
is mown annually. Rough boggy ground, producing the
rushes proper to the situation, as the sharp-flowered jointed
rush or sprit, is suited for yielding a kind of hay, which,
though coarse and comparatively innutritious, is eaten by
the Sheep in the absence of other food. Where irrigation
is practicable, watered meadows are sometimes constructed,
affording the cheapest and securest means of supplying pro-
vender in these elevated countries. In all cases a quantity
of hay is provided, which should be equal to three months'
consumption, at the rate of one and a half pound per day
to the breeding ewes, and one pound to the younger sheep.
When whins grow naturally, they are preserved, as affording
not only food but shelter.

When the pastures consist of rough heath, it is common
to burn it at intervals of several years, in the early part of
spring. This, destroying the more shrubby stems, produces
an increased growth of the more tender shoots.

Draining is held to be very important in the countries oc-
cupied by these Sheep. The drains are narrow open trenches,
a spade's breadth in width. They are carried along the flat

THE CHEVIOT BREED. 103

marshy grounds, or along the declivities of hills, wherever
water may stagnate. They are designed to allow a speedy
egress to water on the surface, and the effect is to improve
the pastures, and lessen the tendency to the dangerous malady
of rot.

When land exists capable of cultivation, the resources of
food may be greatly extended, for then turnips as well as
hay can be supplied. But an error, too common in such dis-
tricts, should be avoided, of ploughing more land than is
required for the ends proposed. The purpose of tillage in
such situations is the raising of turnips and clover hay for
the supply of the stock ; and this end being attained, the
farmer ought never to carry his system of tillage further on
a purely breeding farm.

In order that the Sheep of these farms may pasture with-
out disturbance, arid that the labour of the shepherds may
be abridged, it is held to be highly useful, and even neces-
sary, that each farm be enclosed. The suitable fence for
such situations is the stone wall, for the forming of which
ample materials are for the most to be found on the grounds.
This species of wall is formed of stones without the aid of
lime, about five feet in height. Sods are sometimes used in
place of stones ; but the fences are greatly less permanent
and useful, and ought never to be formed where better mate-
rials exist.

The uses and value of shelter in countries so elevated and
exposed are everywhere recognised. When natural valleys
and glens exist, these are taken advantage of to shelter the
flock from the piercing storms of the inclement season. In
such cases, the shepherd himself drives his flock to the places
which afford shelter, and the Sheep of their own accord be-
take themselves to the natural coverts of the farm. But
though the instincts of the animals will cause them to avoid
a coming tempest, by repairing to the lee sides of eminences
for shelter, these are the very situations in which they may
be overwhelmed by heavy falls of snow, which, when accom-

104 THE SHEEP.

panied by winds, sometimes fill up all the hollows in a few
hours. These accidents occasionally occur, and so sudden
and violent is the storm, that whole flocks of Sheep are buried
under masses of snow. Nay, sometimes the shepherds
themselves, in their attempts to discover and save the scat-
tered flocks, are bewildered and suffocated in the tempest.

It is regarded as of high importance, then, not only to
provide shelter against the piercing blasts of these elevated
countries, but to afford places of refuge to the stock in cases
of danger. Plantations of wood are always found to be be-
neficial in these mountain farms, and when the means exist
of rearing wood, may be formed with profit. They should be
of the size of not less than four or five acres, so that the trees
may shelter one another, and formed with salient angles, so
that the Sheep may have shelter from whatever point the
wind may blow. They are enclosed with stone walls, so that
the trees may be protected from the inroads of the Sheep.
The wild pine and spruce are found to be the best suited for
the purpose, though the larch will grow in situations more
elevated. But wood cannot always be cultivated in situa-
tions so bleak and exposed, and a simple substitute is adopted.
This is a small enclosure, termed a Stell, capable of contain-
ing a flock of Sheep. It consists of a dry-stone wall, six feet
high, and is usually circular, with a narrow opening, and
may be made of a size to contain 200 Sheep or more. Into
these places of refuge the Sheep are driven when occasion
requires. They are thus protected from danger, and a stack
of hay being placed at the entrance, or within the enclosure,
they may be fed during the continuance of the snow. A
sufficient number of these stells being placed in suitable
situations, there exist places of security, to which the Sheep
on different parts of the farm may be promptly conveyed.

No words can convey to those who have never witnessed
the scene, an idea of the terrible effect of the winter storms
which ravage these alpine regions. In an amusing series of
Tales, by James Hogg, commonly known as the Etterick

THE CHEVIOT BREED. 105

Shepherd, graphic descriptions are given of the scenes of
desolation which sometimes present themselves, and of which
the memory survives from generation to generation in the
traditionary annals of the shepherds. Of one of these, fami-
liarly termed the Thirteen Drifty Days, he thus speaks from
tradition : —

" It is said, that for thirteen days and nights the snow-
drift never once abated : the ground was covered with frozen
snow when it commenced, and during all the time of its con-
tinuance, the Sheep never broke their fast. The cold was in-
tense to a degree never before remembered ; and about the
fifth and sixth days of the storm, the young Sheep began to
fall into a sleepy and torpid state, and all that were so affected
in the evening died over-night. .The intensity of the frost-
wind often cut them off, when in that state, quite instanta-
neously. About the ninth and tenth days, the shepherds be-
gan to build up huge semicircular walls of their dead, in
order to afford some shelter for the living remainder ; but
such shelter availed little, for about the same time the want
of food began to be felt so severely, that they were frequently
seen tearing one another's wool with their teeth. When the
storm abated, on the fourteenth day from its commencement,
there was on many a high-lying farm not a living sheep to be
seen. Large misshapen walls of dead, surrounding a small
prostrate flock, likewise all dead, and frozen stiff in their lairs,
were all that remained to the forlorn shepherd and his mas-
ter ; and though on low-lying farms, where the snow was not
so hard before the tempest began, "numbers of sheep weathered
the storm, yet their constitutions received such a shock, that
the greater part of them perished afterwards ; and the final
consequence was, that about nine-tenths of all the sheep in
the south of Scotland were destroyed. In the extensive pas-
toral district of Eskdale-muir, which maintains upwards of
20,000 sheep, it is said none were left alive, but forty young
wethers on one farm, and five old ewes on another. The
farm of Phaup remained without a stock and without a ten-

106 THE SHEEP.

ant for twenty years after the storm ; and when at length
one very honest and liberal-minded man ventured to take a
lease of it, it was at the annual rent of * a great-coat and a
pair of hose !' It is now rented at L.500 a-year. An ex-
tensive glen in Tweedsmuir, now belonging to Sir James
Montgomery of Stanhope, became a common at that time, to
which any man drove his flocks that pleased, arid it continued
so for nearly a century."

He continues : " The years 1709, 1740, and 1772, were
likewise all years notable for severity, and for the losses sus-
tained among the flocks of sheep. In the latter, the snow
lay from the middle of December until the middle of April,
and was all that time hard frozen. Partial thaws always
kept the farmer's hopes of relief alive, and thus prevented
him from removing his sheep to a lower situation, till at
length they grew so weak that they could not be removed.
There has not been such a general loss in the days of any
man living as in that year."

" But of all the storms that ever Scotland witnessed, or I
hope ever will again behold, there is none of them that can
once be compared with that of the memorable night between
Friday the 24th and Saturday the 25th of January 1794.
This storm fell with peculiar violence on that division of the
South of Scotland that lies between Crawford-muir and the
Border. In these bounds seventeen shepherds perished, and
upwards of thirty were carried home insensible, who after-
wards recovered. The number of sheep that were lost far
outwent any possibility of calculation. Whole flocks were
overwhelmed with snow, and no one ever knew where they
were till the snow was dissolved, and they were all found
dead. I myself witnessed one particular instance of this, on
the farm of Thickside : there were twelve scores of excellent
ewes, all one age, that were missing all the time that the
snow lay, which was only a week, and no traces of them
could be found ; when the snow went away, they were dis-
covered all lying dead, with their heads one way, as if a flock

THE CHEVIOT BREED. 107

of sheep had dropped dead going from the washing. Many
hundreds were driven into waters, burns, and lakes, by the
violence of the storm, where they were buried or frozen up,
and these the flood carried away, so that they were never
seen or found by the owners at all. The greater part of the
rivers on which the storm was most deadly run into the Sol-
way Frith, on which there is a place called the Beds of Esk,
where the tide throws out, and leaves, whatever is carried
into it by the rivers. When the flood after the storm sub-
sided, there were found on that place, and the shores adjacent,
one thousand eight hundred and forty sheep, nine black cattle,
three horses, two men, one woman, forty-five dogs, and one
hundred and eighty hares, besides a number of meaner ani-
mals.''

After describing his return from a distant excursion through
the mountains, and certain presages of a coming storm, he
continues : —

" I then went to my bed in the byre-loft, where I slept with
a neighbour shepherd, named Borthwick ; but though fatigued
with walking through the snow, I could not close an eye, so
that I heard the first burst of the storm, which commenced
between one and two, with a fury that no one can conceive
who does not remember it. Besides, the place where I lived
being exposed to two or three ' gathered winds,' as they are
called by shepherds, the storm raged there with redoubled
fury. It began all at once, with such a tremendous roar, that
I imagined it was a peal of thunder, until I felt the house
trembling to its foundation. In a few minutes I thrust my
naked arm through a hole in the roof, in order, if possible, to
ascertain what was going on without, for not a ray of light
could I see. I could not then, nor can I yet, express my
astonishment : so completely was the air overloaded with
falling and driving snow, that, but for the force of the wind,
I felt as if I had thrust my arm into a wreath of snow. I
deemed it a judgment sent from Heaven upon us, and went
to bed again, trembling with agitation.5' " I kept my bed

108 THE SHEEP.

for about three quarters of an hour longer ; and then
rose, and on reaching the house with much difficulty, found
our master, the ploughman, Borthwick, and the two servant
maids, sitting round the kitchen fire, with looks of dismay, I
may almost say despair. We all agreed at once, that the
sooner we were able to reach the sheep, the better chance
we had to save a remnant ; and as there were eight hundred
excellent ewes, all in one lot, but a long way distant, and
the most valuable lot of any on the farm, we resolved to
make a bold effort to reach them. Our master made family
worship, a duty he never neglected ; but that morning the
manner in which he expressed our trust and confidence in
Heaven, was particularly affecting. We took our breakfast
— filled our pockets with bread and cheese — sewed our plaids
around us — tied down our hats with napkins coming below
our chins — and each taking a strong staff in his hand, we
set out on the attempt.

" No sooner was the door closed behind us than we lost
sight of each other : seeing there was none — it was impos-
sible for a man to see his hand held up before him — and it
was still two hours till day. We had no means of keeping to-
gether but by following to one another's voices, nor of work-
ing our way save by groping before us with our staves. It
soon appeared to me a hopeless concern, for, ere ever we got
clear of the houses and hay-stacks, we had to roll ourselves
over two or three wreaths which it was impossible to wade
through ; and all the while the wind and drift were so violent,
that every three or four minutes we were obliged to hold our
faces down between our knees to recover our breath. We
soon got into an eddying wind that was altogether insuffer-
able, and, at the same time, we were struggling among snow
so deep, that our progress in the way we proposed going was
very equivocal indeed, for we had by this time lost all idea
of east, west, north, or south. Still we were as busy as men
determined on an enterprize of moment could be, and perse-
vered on we knew not whither, sometimes rolling over the

THE CHEVIOT BREED. 109

snow, and sometimes weltering in it up to the chin. The fol-
lowing instance of our successful exertions marks our pro-
gress to a tittle : There was an enclosure around the house
to the westward, which we denominated ' the Park,' as was
customary in Scotland at that period, and in that quarter,
where a farm seldom boasted more than one enclosed piece
of ground. When we went away we calculated that it was
two hours until day ; the park did not extend above three
hundred yards ; and we were still engaged in it when day-
light appeared. When we got free of the park, we also got
free of the eddy of the wind. It was now straight in our
faces ; we went in a line before each other, and changed
places every three or four minutes, and at length, after great
fatigue, reached a long ridge of a hill where the snow was
thinner, having been blown off by the force of the wind, and
by this we had hopes of reaching within a short space of the
ewes, which were still a mile and a half distant. Our master
had taken the lead ; I was next him, and soon began to sus-
pect, from the depth of the snow, that he was leading us quite
wrong ; but, as we always trusted implicitly to the person that
was foremost for the time, I said nothing for a good while,
until satisfied that we were going in a direction very nearly
right opposite to that we intended. I then tried to expostulate
with him ; but he did not seem to understand what I said; and,
on getting a glimpse of his countenance, I perceived that it
was quite altered. Not to alarm the others, nor even him-
self, I said I was becoming terribly fatigued, and proposed
that we should lean on the snow, and take each a little
whisky (for I had brought a small bottle in my pocket, for
fear of the worst), and some bread and cheese. This was
unanimously agreed to, and I noted that he swallowed the
'spirits rather eagerly, a thing not usual with him, and when
he tried to eat, it was long before he could eat any thing. I
was convinced that he would fail altogether, but, as it would
have been easier to have got him to the shepherd's house,

110 THE SHEEP.

which was before us, than home again, I made no proposal
for him to return. On the contrary, I said, if they would trust
themselves entirely to me, I would engage to lead them to the
ewes, without going a foot out of the way. The other two
agreed to this, and acknowledged that they knew not where
they were ; but he never opened his mouth, nor did he speak
for two hours thereafter. It had only been a temporary ex-
haustion, however, for he afterwards recovered, and wrought
till night as well as any of us ; though he never could recol-
lect a single circumstance that occurred during that part of
our way, nor a word that was said, nor of having got any re-
freshment whatever. About half an hour past ten we reached
the flock, and just in time to save them."

Again : " It was now wearing towards mid-day, and there
were occasionally short intervals in which we could see
round us for perhaps a score of yards ; but we got only one
momentary glance of the hills around us all that day. I
grew quite impatient to be at my own charge, and leaving
the rest, I went away to them by myself, that is, I went to
the division that was left far out on the hills, while our mas-
ter and the ploughman volunteered to rescue those that were
down on the lower ground. I found mine in miserable cir-
cumstances ; but, making all possible exertion, I got out
about one-half of them, which I left in a place of safety, and
made towards home, for it was beginning to grow dark,
and the storm was again raging in all its darkness and fury.
I was not in the least afraid of losing my way, for I knew
all the declivities of the hills so well, that I could have come
home with my eyes bound up ; and indeed, long ere I got
home, they were of no use to me. I was terrified for the
water (Douglas Burn), for in the morning it was flooded and
gorged up with snow in a dreadful manner, and I judged that*
it would be now quite impassable. At length I came to a
place where I thought the water should be, and fell a-boring
and groping for it with my long staff. No : I could find no

THE CHEVIOT BREED. Ill

water, and began to dread that, in spite of my supposed ac-
curacy, I had gone wrong. This greatly surprised me, and
standing still to consider, I looked up towards Heaven, I
shall not say for what cause, and to my utter amazement
thought I beheld trees over my head, nourishing abroad over
the whole sky. I never had seen such an optical delusion
before ; it was so like enchantment that I knew not what to
think, but dreaded that some extraordinary thing was coming
over me, and that I was deprived of my right senses. I con-
cluded that the storm was a great judgment sent on us for
our sins, and that this strange phantasy was connected with
it, an illusion effected by evil spirits. „ I stood a good while
in this painful trance ; but at length, on making a bold ex-
ertion to escape from the fairy vision, I came all at once in
contact with the Old Tower. Never in my life did I expe-
rience such a relief; I was not only all at once freed from
the fairies, but from the dangers of the gorged river. I had
come over it on some mountain of snow, I knew not how nor
where, nor do I know to this day. So that, after all, what I
had seen were trees, and trees of no great magnitude neither ;
but their appearance to my eyes it is impossible to describe.
I thought they flourished abroad, not for miles, but for hun-
dreds of miles, to the utmost verges of the visible heavens.
Such a day and such a night may the eye of a shepherd never
again behold!"

No apology can be due for extracting those passages.
Had the author never written more than his account of the
storms of Etterick, he would deserve to be remembered.
Even if we shall imagine that a little fancy has been mixed
with the reality of the story, we must feel that the Shepherd
Boy had really mingled in the scenes which he lived to paint
so well. One passage more is worthy of note. It refers to
a faculty known to be possessed by the Dogs of these moun-
tains, of discovering the Sheep which have been buried be-
neath the snow. We know that a similar instinct of the

112 THE SHEEP.

noble Dogs of St Bernard, is employed to discover the re-
mains of the perished traveller.

" Next morning the sky was clear ; but a cold intemperate
wind still blew from the north. The face of the country was
entirely altered. The form of every hill was changed, and
new mountains leaned over every valley. All traces of burns,
rivers, and lakes, were obliterated." " When we came to
the ground where the sheep should have been, there was not
one of them above the snow. Here and there, at a great
distance from each other, we could perceive the heads or
horns of stragglers appearing ; and these were easily got
out ; but when we had collected these few, we could find no
more. They had been lying all abroad in a scattered state
when the storm came on, and were covered over just as they
had been lying. It was on a kind of sloping ground, that
lay half beneath the wind, and the snow was uniformly from
six to eight feet deep. Under this the hogs were lying scat-
tered over at least one hundred acres of heathery ground.
We went about boring with our long poles, and often did
not find one hog in a quarter of an hour. But at length a
white shaggy colly, named Sparkie. that belonged to the
cowherd boy, seemed to have comprehended something of
our perplexity, for we observed him plying and scraping in
the snow with great violence, and always looking over his
shoulder for us. On going to the spot, we found that he had
marked straight above a sheep. From that he flew to ano-
ther, and so on to another, as fast as we could dig them out,
and ten times faster, for he sometimes had twenty or thirty
holes marked beforehand."

Although these dreadful tempests occur but occasionally,
bad seasons, that is, seasons in which the ground is covered
for a long period with frozen snow, are common, and never
fail to affect, in a serious manner, the health and condition
of the flock. When they take place at the period of lamb-
ing, great numbers of the young creatures perish, notwith-
standing every care on the part of the shepherds.

THE CHEVIOT BREED. 113

The Cheviot Breed, naturalized in countries so cold and
tempestuous, and spreading over so large a tract of country,
must be seen to be of the highest economical importance.
The attention of agriculturists, in the district proper to the
breed, has been skilfully directed to its improvement. Su-
perior feeding has had the effect of enlarging the size of the
animals, and increasing the produce of wool ; but the wool,
as was before observed, has become less fine, and has almost
ceased to be used in the manufacture of cloths. It has,
therefore, become the interest of breeders to direct attention
to the improvement of the form of the animals, holding the
quality of the wool to be a secondary consideration. Never-
theless, to this extent, attention to the wool is proper : a fine
and close fleece indicates constitutional hardiness in the in-
dividuals, and should therefore be carefully attended to as a
character in the breeding parents.

The Cheviot Breed amalgamates readily with the Leices-
ter ; and a system of breeding has been extensively intro-
duced for producing the first cross of this descent. The
rams employed are of the pure Leicester breed; and the
progeny is superior in size, weight of wool, and tendency to
fatten, to the native Cheviot. The lambs of this descent are
sometimes disposed of to the butcher, and sometimes fed
until they are shearlings, when they can be rendered as fat
as the parent Leicesters, and not much inferior in weight ;
and further, they can be raised to maturity under less favour-
able conditions of soil and herbage than the Leicester. The
benefit, however, may be said to end with the first cross,
and the progeny of this mixed descent is greatly inferior to
the pure Cheviot in hardiness of constitution. The system
is attended with considerable profit in many cases. The
danger is, that it may insensibly produce a mixture of the
Leicester blood on the breeding farms. Even this may an-
swer peculiar situations ; but there cannot be a question
that, for general cultivation in the high and tempestuous
countries to which the Cheviot breed is adapted, the race

114 THE SHEEP.

should be preserved in its native purity. Every mixture of
stranger blood has been found to lessen that character of
hardiness which is the distinguishing character of the race.
The beautiful breed of the South Downs would seem to be of
all others that which is best adapted to improve the Cheviot ;
and yet the experiments that have hitherto been made have
shewn, that the mixed progeny is inferior to the native
Cheviot, in its adaptation to a country of cold and humid
mountains.

The Cheviot Breed, it has been seen, has been gradually
extending throughout the mountainous parts of Scotland. It
has penetrated southward in the part of the central chain of
elevated moors from which the Heath Breed has been derived.
It might be yet greatly more extended in this direction, and
supersede many of the flocks of ill-formed animals which in-
habit this range. It has been carried to Wales, to the high
lands of Dartmoor and Exmoor, and in small numbers into
Cornwall. In all these cases it has been found superior to
the native races. It has even been carried by settlers to the
boundless wastes of New South Wales ; but the suitable
breed for that country, in which the wool alone is of value, is
the Merino, although, as we shall afterwards have occasion
to see, some of the Long-woolled Breeds may, with advantage,
be transported to this magnificent Colony.

X.— THE OLD NORFOLK BREED.

A remarkable variety of Sheep, usually termed the Old
Norfolk Breed, occupies the higher lands of Norfolk, Suffolk,
and Cambridge. These Sheep, once very numerous in the
heathy districts of this part of England, are a wild and hardy
race, well fitted for a country of scanty herbage. Both sexes
are armed with horns, which, in the male, are thick and spiral.
Their limbs are long and muscular, their bodies are long,
and their general form betokens activity and strength. They,

THE OLD NORFOLK BREED. 115

accordingly, have been regarded as well-fitted for distant
journeys, and for bearing the rough treatment of the fold.
They hold their necks erect, and, in their carriage, resemble
Antelopes. Their faces and legs are covered with short black
hair : their wool weighs from two and a half to four pounds
the fleece, is fine and silky, and possesses sufficient felting
properties to fit it for being made into second or livery cloths.
It formerly brought a high relative price in the market ; but,
in consequence of the increased use of the finer wools of Spain
and Saxony in the manufacture of superior cloths, the wool
of this, as of the numerous other breeds which formerly pro-
duced short or clothing wools, has declined in value.

These Sheep have much of the aspect of the Black-faced
Heath Breed, but differ from that race in their longer body
and limbs, and in the characters of the fleece ; their wool
not being harsh and wiry, as in the case of the Heath Breed,
but soft, and suited for felting. The softness of their fleece
gives them some affinity with the Southdowns ; but they
differ from that race in their robuster form, and in their
bolder, wilder, and more restless habits. We must suppose
that the characters of this breed have been acquired from
peculiarities in the soil and climate of the district which it
inhabits. This tract is calcareous, sandy, and naturally pro-
ductive of heaths, with hard and wiry grasses. Being obliged
to traverse extensive tracts to procure sufficiency of food, the
animals have become active and muscular ; and the country
they inhabit being somewhat elevated, and exposed to dry
easterly winds, they are furnished with a fleece sufficiently
close to defend them from the chill breezes, without having
that long coat of wool which is needed in situations more
humid and mountainous. Inhabiting, too, a country in which
chalk, and the detritus of chalk, exist, the wool has acquired
that fineness which generally characterizes other races accli-
mated in calcareous districts. This breed must be referred
to the same general type as the Black-faced Heath Breed ;
and we may believe, that the characters which distinguish it

116 THE SHEEP.

are such as the Black-faced Heath Breed would itself, in the
course of ages, assume in a lower country of chalk and heath.

These Sheep were greatly esteemed in the districts which
produced them, and were spread over a large tract of coun-
try. Their mutton was, and still is, held in high estimation ;
and they were valued by the butchers for producing a large
proportion of internal 'fat, and by the farmers for their adap-
tation to the husbandry of the fold. They were long the
prevailing breed of Norfolk and Suffolk ; but, as improve-
ments extended, they became more confined to the higher
grounds, and animals of more docile habits and superior fat-
tening properties supplied their place in the cultivated coun-
try. Other causes, also, have contributed to lessen the num-
bers of this breed, and limit its range. With the more im-
proved races, these wilder sheep produce admirable first
crosses, either for being killed as lambs, or when of an older
age. The ewes prove excellent nurses, and give birth to a
robust progeny ; and no finer lambs are brought to the Eng-
lish markets than the first crosses between them and the
Leicester or South Down rams. This circumstance produces
a gradual intermixture with the blood of other varieties, and
a progressive diminution of the numbers of the pure race.
To such a degree has this intermixture taken place, that the
perfectly pure Norfolk Breed is now becoming rare, and, if
breeders have not inducements afforded them to preserve it,
will soon cease to be found. It is to be observed, that the
greater number of Sheep now brought to the markets of Lon-
don under the name of Norfolks, are crosses, or the offspring
of crosses, especially with the Southdowns.

The Old Norfolk is thus sharing the fate of the various
Forest and other breeds of this country, by giving place to
races of superior value with respect to the power of arriving
at earlier maturity of muscle and fatness. A certain feeling
of regret may perhaps exist, that a race possessing many
good properties, should have been extinguished rather than
improved. That the Old Norfolk was, like every other breed

THE OLD NORFOLK BREED. 117

of Sheep, susceptible of an essential change of characters,
cannot be doubted. While it might still have retained its
property of hardiness and robustness, the too great length of
the limbs, the flatness and lankness of the body, and, with
the change of external form, the too great wildness of tem-
per, might have been corrected, as in the case of every other
race of Sheep to which the care of the breeder has been
directed. But few breeders appear to have thought the Nor-
folk so deserving of preservation and improvement, as to have
deemed it necessary to apply to it those principles of breed-
ing which have been successfully applied to other races.
Very lately, indeed, the matter has occupied the attention of
the possessors of the few unmixed flocks which remain ; but,
unless these gentlemen are seconded by more extensive sup-
port than they have yet received, it is to be believed that this
ancient race will, at no distant time, be merged in others which
have acquired a higher value by the care of the breeder.

The breed which of all others has the most trenched upon
the domains of the ancient Norfolk is the South Down. This
admirable breed has not only occupied districts formerly pos-
sessed by the Norfolk, but has been largely used to cross the
latter ; and experience has shewn, that these crosses are su-
perior in form, though not in weight, to those of the Leices-
ter. This is a conclusion which might have been drawn even
without the aid of experience. The Southdowns, which are
a short-woolled race, and indigenous to a calcareous country,
which is also the geological character of the country of the
Nor folks, have a greater affinity with the Norfolk s than the
long-woolled Leicesters and Lincolns, and are therefore bet-
ter suited to amalgamate with them. It has been seen, on
the other hand, that the long-woolled Sheep of the plains are
better fitted to unite with the Welsh, the Dartmoor, and Ex-
moor, than the fine-woolled Southdowns ; illustrating a prin-
ciple of breeding too often disregarded, of bringing together
animals which possess a certain community of characters.

118 THE SHEEP.

XI. THE PENISTONE BREED.

As connected with the Heath Breeds of the country may
here be mentioned one of remarkable characters, termed the
Penistone. This race inhabits a district of the coal forma-
tion on the confines of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire.
It is found in the higher parts of this district, where a coarse
heathy herbage prevails, occupying a limited tract of about
twenty-six miles by twenty. On the slopes of the hills, the
older breeds merge in the crosses that have been made,
chiefly with the Leicester. The Sheep are termed Penistone,
from the market-town of that name, lying a few miles to the
south of Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and
to which they are usually driven for sale.

These Sheep have wool of a medium length, of a silky ap-
pearance, but harsh and wiry, and weighing from four to five
pounds the fleece. They have white faces and legs. The
rams exceed the size of the ewes and wethers in an unusual
degree ; a peculiarity which is ascribed to their being taken to
the lower country to be reared. The rams alone have horns,
which are very large, lying close to the head, and projecting
forward. A distinguishing character of this breed is an ex-
treme coarseness of form, and especially of the extremities.
The feet are large, the limbs bony, the shoulders heavy, the
sides flat ; but the most singular characteristic is the length
and muscularity of the tail, in which respect the Penistone
Sheep differ from all others in this country. This enlarge-
ment of the tail is merely muscular and bony, and not at all
analogous to the growth of fat which takes place in the tails
of certain Sheep of Eastern countries. The mutton of these
Sheep is highly valued for its juiciness and flavour.

The Penistone is manifestly to be referred to the same
general type as the Black-faced Heath Breed. It approaches
to this race in the character of its wool, but differs from it in
its clumsier and less agile form. The individuals are very

THE PENISTONE BREED. 119

large, but weigh the least perhaps in proportion to their offal
and bulk of body, of any sheep of this country.

It may excite surprise that a breed possessing such charac-
ters should have maintained its place in the centre of Eng-
land, in the vicinity of some of the most opulent towns, and
on the borders of districts the most celebrated for their
breeds of Sheep. The Penistone district is, however, of
peculiar characters. It is high, yet yields a plentiful coarse
herbage of heath and intermixed grasses. It is scarcely
sufficiently fertile, or sufficiently improved, for the Leicesters,
and is just such a district as would appear to be suited to
support a coarse race of native Sheep. Farmers have found
these animals to be hardy, and adapted to the country in
which they are naturalized, and hence have been disposed to
overlook their defects. Yet a gentle crossing with more
improved breeds, might have corrected their more palpable
defects, without rendering them too fine for their situation.
It may be expected, however, that this coarse unthrifty breed
will disappear, either by the effects of crossing, or by the sub-
stitution of superior varieties. A breed which seems well
suited for this district, at least so long as it remains in its
present uncultivated state, is the Cheviot, which is calculated
to thrive well in a country of heaths with intermixed grasses.
Cheviot flocks have indeed been introduced into the Peni-
stone district, but the farmers dislike them on account of their
smallness of size, not considering that a greater number of
these smaller sheep could be maintained, and would yield a
larger produce of mutton with less of offal, on the same space
of ground. The pure Southdown s would be out of place in
these rugged pastures, which are not adapted to a race the
natives of a country of short and fine herbage. Still more
unsuitable are other breeds which have been employed to
cross these coarse animals, as, for example, the Ryeland, one
of the prettiest little breeds in the country, but differing in
all its characters from the Penistone.

120 THE SHEEP.

XII.— THE OLD WILTSHIRE BREED.

The Old Wiltshire was a race of Sheep which extended
over the greater part of the county of Wilts. They were
the largest of the fine-woolled Sheep of England. Their
heads were clumsy, and the outline of the face remarkably
arched. They had horns in the male and female : their legs
and faces were white ; their wool was very fine, weighing
about two and a half pounds the fleece : their mutton was of
tolerable quality, and the wethers, although they fattened
slowly, arrived at a good size.

This breed was long regarded as well adapted to the situa-
tions in which it was reared : its wool was in great request,
and large numbers of the fattened Sheep were driven to the
London markets. The breed may be said to be now nearly
extinct in the pure state, scattered remnants of it only ex-
isting. It has been entirely superseded by the South Down
breed, which has either been directly substituted for it, or
been made to cross it, until its distinctive characters have
been lost. The vexation was very great of the older farmers
of Wilts on marking the progress of the Southdowns, and
the gradual disappearance of the race which they had been
taught to regard as the best in the kingdom. Some of them
declared that there would not be a pile of grass in the county
if these little black-faced Southdowns were allowed to take
the place of the fine tall Wiltshire.

The figure of the Old Wiltshire affords an exemplification
of almost every external character which the breeder wishes
to avoid. The large coarse head, the flat sides, and the
length and thickness of the limbs, are very remarkable ; and,
by comparing these points with the conformation of the
beautiful race which is now reared in the same district, we
have an instructive lesson on the proper form of Sheep, and
on the changes which the care of the breeder can effect.
The Old Wiltshire breed, however, had become adapted, in a

THE OLD WILTSHIRE BREED. 121

remarkable degree, to the conditions, both natural and artifi-
cial, under which it was reared. The animals lived in a
country of chalky hills, inland, and not exposed to severities
of temperature, but unshaded from the sun's rays : the herb-
age being scanty, they had to move to considerable distances
to collect their food ; and the practice, from time immemorial,
had been established, of driving them great distances to and
from the fold. To these circumstances was adapted an ani-
mal having a light fleece, with strong muscular limbs, and
with the habitude of subsisting on scanty herbage. Its fleece
was not only light, beyond that of any other Sheep in this
country, but its belly was destitute of wool, a character
which would not have existed but in the case of a warm dry
soil, where the animal did not require a coat of wool between
his belly and the humid earth. The animal, however, which
had acquired these properties was eminently deficient in
others which are sought for in the more improved state of
the Sheep. Subsisting on scanty dry food, he had acquired
the habitude of fattening slowly ; and the Old Wiltshire,
though greatly valued by the butchers, was one of the most
difficult to be fattened of the larger Sheep of England.
There cannot exist a doubt of the great benefit which accrues
to individuals and the country, by the substitution of the
Southdown s for this coarse uncultivated race. It may be
asked, Could not the Wiltshire Sheep have been improved,
the faults of their form corrected, their size preserved, and
the fineness of their fleece maintained ? Beyond a question
all these purposes could have been effected by the care of
breeders, directed for a sufficient period to the improvement
of the animal. But these are labours which would have re-
quired a generation at least ; and the interest of breeders
was better served by taking that which was formed to their
hands, than by waiting the slow improvements of a race so
radically defective.*

* In my large Work, a representation is given of the ancient Wiltshire
Breed unmixed with any other blood, affording perhaps the last record that

122 THE SHEEP.

The Wiltshire Breed may be regarded as the type of some
others which inhabited a portion of the midland chalk coun-
ties of England until a recent period. The Old Hampshire
Sheep may be referred to this group. They were horned,
had the faces and legs white, though in some cases speckled,
long limbs, and lank bodies. This race has been supplanted
by the South Down, or so crossed with it, as to have lost its
original characters. The ancient Sheep of the adjoining
county of Berks were of two kinds. One had horns, and
the other was destitute of horns. Both were coarse slowly-
fattening animals, tall and muscular, with an .arched chaf-
fron. Their wool was short, and fitted for felting. These
breeds have been universally crossed with the South Down,
and may be said to be nearly extinct in the pure state. Be-
sides, few Sheep are now reared in the county of Berks, the
farmers of which derive their Sheep for fattening from other
districts.

XIII.— THE DORSET BREED.

A breed of Sheep has, from time immemorial, been na-
turalized in the county of Dorset, which formerly extended
over a large tract of country. These Sheep possess small
horns, common to the male and female. They have white
legs and faces : their wool is fine, but only applied to the
making of second or livery cloths, and it weighs about four
pounds the fleece. Their limbs are somewhat long, but
without coarseness ; their shoulders are low, and the loins
broad and deep ; their lips and nostrils are black, though
with a frequent tendency to assume a fleshy colour. The

will be presented to the public of a breed once so esteemed and celebrated.
The individuals represented form part of a flock on an estate in the county of
Wilts, bequeathed and held on the singular condition, that the proprietor
should maintain a flock of the pure old Wiltshire Sheep. The former owner
adopted this expedient for perpetuating the existence of his favourite breed.

THE DORSET BREED. 123

wethers fatten at three years old to about eighteen pounds
the quarter. They are a hardy race of Sheep, docile, suited
to the practice of folding, and capable of subsisting on
scanty pastures. Their mutton is very good, but not equal
in juiciness and flavour to that of the mountain breeds.

The property of the Dorsets which remarkably distin-
guishes them, is the fecundity of the females, and their
readiness to receive the male at an early season. They
have been known, like the Sheep of some warmer countries,
to produce twice in the year. This, however, is rare ; but
it is common for the females to become impregnated while
they are nursing their young. They will receive the male
so early as the months of April or May. The common
period of admitting him is in the early part of June, so that
the lambs shall be born in October, and be ready for use by
Christmas. This has given rise to the practice of rearing
the lambs in houses, until they are ready for the market.
The system has long been regularly pursued, especially with-
in reach of London, where a great demand exists for this
kind of luxury. The rams employed to cover the ewes for
these early lambs are not usually the Dorsets, but the Lei-
cesters or Southdowns, and chiefly the Southdowns. The
crosses are excellent, and no better nurses can be found than
the Dorset mothers.

The form of the Dorsets has a great resemblance to that
of the Spanish Merinos. The resemblance, however, is
entirely in figure, for the properties of the two races are
very different. While the females of the Merino race are
bad nurses, the Dorsets are the most productive of milk of
any of our races of Sheep. In the broad and deep loins of
this race, we have the same external character which, in the
case of the Cow, indicates the faculty of yielding abundant
milk. The remarkable fecundity of these Sheep has given
rise to the supposition that they are derived from some
warmer country, where the females bring forth twice in the
year ; but the property may be one which is due to situation ,

124 THE SHEEP.

The country of the Dorsets is calcareous, being partly on the
limits of the chalk formation, and partly on the lias and oolite ;
and the climate is mild, and the herbage is mixed with wild
thyme and other aromatic plants. Formerly, the race was
greatly more diffused in England than it now is. William
Ellis, in his Shepherd's Guide, published in 1749, describes
the west country Sheep as having " white faces, white and
short legs, broad loins, and fine curled wool." He says they
are of different sizes, the smaller sort being fed on commons,
and that they are more tender of their young than any other,
and in an especial manner the Dorsetshire variety. " Where-
upon," says he, " those farmers that live in Hertfordshire,
Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Middlesex, Surrey, and
Kent, and would be masters of a fine kind of Sheep, for
folding, fattening, and breeding lambs, cannot have a better
sort."

Since the period referred to, however, this race of Sheep
has been continually diminishing in numbers. The extension
of the improved Leicesters and Southdowns gradually cir-
cumscribed the limits of the ancient Dorsets ; and in the
various midland and eastern counties in which they formerly
abounded, scattered flocks only are found, and these rarely
pure.

The crosses of this breed with the Leicesters and South-
downs being superior to the original stock, a powerful cause
is in operation to produce an intermixture of blood ; and
were it not for the demand which exists in the great towns,
and especially in London, for early lambs, the Dorsets might
be expected, like so many of the older breeds of the country,
to become extinct. Should this take place, we know of no
means of supplying its place, for no other breed of these
Islands possesses the properties of early breeding and fecun-
dity in the same degree. While, therefore, the rearing of
early lambs continues to be profitable, care should be used
in preserving the purity of this ancient race, and in calling
forth, by selection of the male and female parents, those

THE DORSET BREED. 125

properties which it possesses in so eminent a degree. The
purest of the race are now to be found in a district round
Dorchester.

The Dorset Breed extends to the rich and beautiful county
of Somerset, where it is now reared in greater numbers than
in Dorsetshire itself. It here exhibits, however, some differ-
ence of character. It is distinguished from the true Dorset
by the colour of the nose, which is of a fleshy or pink colour,
resembling that of the Merino. The Pink-nosed Somerset
is larger than the Black -nosed Dorset, and of lanker form.
The wool is somewhat longer, but nearly of the same fine-
ness. The wethers, when fattened, attain to greater weight,
and the lambs are larger. The Dorsets, however, are consi-
dered as exhibiting the characters proper to the females in
greater perfection. In the case of the Somersets, the usual
period of admitting the males to the females is about the
10th of May, so that the ewes may lamb in September or
early in October.

In both of these counties, especially in Dorsetshire, the
Southdowns have been making continual progress, being
either substituted for the native races, or employed to cross
them. They are better suited than the Leicesters to mingle
with the Dorset race, producing well-formed animals, and in-
creasing the value of the fleece.

The numerous varieties of the same group which inhabited
the older commons are now nearly extinct, although traces
of the characteristic form may still be observed in certain
places. One variety, however, is still to be found in a state
of purity. It inhabits the Isle of Portland, where it has been
kept unmixed for an unknown period. These little Sheep
have horns in the male and female. They are gentle, and of
good form. They have a tinge of dun on the face and legs.
Their wool, like that of the Dorsets, is of medium fineness,
weighing about two pounds the fleece. They are washed,
before being shorn, in the salt pools left on the shores by the
returning tide. Their mutton is exceedingly delicate, and

126 THE SHEEP.

the wethers, when fat, at two years and four months old,
weigh from ten to twelve pounds the quarter.

The climate of the Isle of Portland is moist, and the natural
herbage is largely mixed with wild thyme. The number of
Sheep in the Island amounts to about 4000. Some years ago
a flock of them was taken to the Derby hills by Sir George
Crewe, M. P., and it is said that they supported well this
change of climate and situation. No purpose, however, of
economical utility can be served by carrying this curious
breed beyond the narrow limits where it has acquired the
characters which are proper to it.

XIV. THE MERINO BREED.

From early times, Spain has been noted for the production
of numerous flocks of Sheep, and of wool adapted to the
fabrication of the finer cloths and tissues. This country
presents great diversity of surface and natural productions.
Towards the south and east it is more African in its charac-
ter than any other part of Europe. The interior consists of
elevated plains, bounded and traversed by long ranges of
mountains, the summits of which sometimes rise almost to
the region of perpetual congelation. Descending from these
chains of mountains are several noble rivers, which carry
their waters to the Mediterranean and Atlantic through
plains and valleys of surpassing richness and beauty. The
climate varies greatly with the altitude, but the air is every
where pure and dry. The vegetable productions are those
of the warmer as well as of the colder parts of the northern
temperate zone. The orange, the citron, the olive, and the
vine, are common productions of the lower plains ; the rocky
mountains are covered with cisti, arborescent heaths, and
many beautiful and fragrant herbs ; and, in the cultivated
country, are mingled the plants of the warmer with those of
the temperate regions, — the maize, the sugar-cane, the rice,

THE MERINO BREED. 127

and the sorghi, with wheat and other cerealia. Numerous
varieties of Sheep occupy the plains and mountainous coun-
try. Some produce a long wool, deficient in the property of
felting, but fitted for the manufacture of the looser fabrics,
as carpets and flannels, as well as serges and the lightei
tissues. These long-woolled Sheep are found in the lower
and more cultivated countries. The short-woolled Sheep in-
habit, for the most part, the sandy downs, and the mountains
and elevated plains of the interior, where a finer herbage
prevails. They are altogether distinct from the larger Sheep
of the richer plains, although both have been largely mingled
in blood together, and have produced a mixed progeny, which
is very numerous.

This fine country, so rich and beautiful, has rarely been
permitted to avail itself of its unrivalled resources. With a
few happy intervals, the history of Spain is one of intestine
troubles, of foreign wars, of civil intolerance, and religious
bigotry. Its former inhabitants, apparently of the same
great family of mankind which peopled Gaul and other coun-
tries of Western Europe, were early visited, for the purposes
of commerce, by Phoenician voyagers, and subsequently by
the Samians and other Greeks, who were permitted to esta-
blish towns on the coasts of the Mediterranean. These
strangers at first contented themselves with their little mari-
time colonies, and with the means of intercourse which these
afforded with the native inhabitants ; but at length the Phoe-
nicians, with that desire of colonization which distinguished
them, founded the city of Gades, now Cadiz, beyond the
Gaditanian Strait. The natives, alarmed at this encroach-
ment, prepared to attack the intruders ; when the latter, in
an evil hour, called to their aid the Carthaginians, then the
most powerful maritime people of the Mediterranean. Dis-
regarding its allies, this ambitious state began, on its own
account, a system of cruel conquest, penetrating through the
very heart of the country to the Ebro, establishing fortresses
and founding cities, amongst which was the noble city of

128 THE SHEEP.

New Carthage, which to this hour retains the name of Car-
tagena. In the year 216 B. c., the fatal siege of the city of
Saguntum, situated in the modern kingdom of Valencia, gave
rise to the memorable wars between Carthage and Rome,
which ended in the destruction of the Carthaginian Common-
wealth, and the supremacy of its relentless rival. In the
meanwhile, the Romans pursued the conquest of the devoted
country to which they had been called as protectors. But
nearly 200 years elapsed before they were able io bring it
under subjection. At length all Spain became a peaceful
province of Rome, receiving in exchange for her independ-
ence a longer exemption from the troubles of war, and a
greater degree of public prosperity, than she has ever again
been permitted to enjoy. Under the wise administration of
Roman laws, Spain soon became the richest, most indus-
trious, and most powerful, of all the dependent nations of
the empire. It was during the period of Roman dominion,
continued for more than 450 years, that this country became
distinguished for her commerce, her agriculture, and her
other arts. Some of her cities were reckoned amongst the
most opulent of the ancient world ; and aqueducts, bridges,
and ways of communication, now in ruins, attest a degree of
civilization and refinement to which, except under the partial
dominion of the Caliphs, she never again reached.

The Roman writers, in their casual notices of the produc-
tions of this important province, speak of its wool as being
greatly esteemed for its fineness. It is described as being
black. Pliny the younger informs us that the finest wool, of
a black colour, was brought from Turditania ; and Strabo,
who wrote in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, says, that wool,
suited for the finer garments of the Romans, was brought
from the same country. Pliny, while he mentions the fine
wool of Turditania, states, that yet superior to it was the red
wool of Boetica, that is, of the countries of the Boetis, now
the Guadalquiver, forming the modern Andalusia, and part
of Estremadura. The red wool of Boetica still remains, and

THE MERINO BREED. 129

is probably the same as that distinguished by the ancients
unddfr the name Milesian, brought from Asia. It is stated
by Martialis, himself a native of Spain, to be of the colour of
wine. It is long and very soft, differing entirely from the
wool of Spain> now so celebrated, termed Merino.

The Roman power in Spain terminated in the year of our
Lord 456, and was supplanted by that of the Northern Bar-
barians. In the year 409, the Vandals, Suevi, and Allani,
having forced the passes of the Pyrenees, carried rapine and
desolation throughout the tranquil and happy land. The
Roman legions, few in number, and fallen off in discipline,
and the inhabitants become unwarlike from disuse of arms,
were unable to make head against these cruel enemies, who
did not, however, long enjoy their bloody triumphs. A nation
of Goths, who had become the allies of the sinking empire,
drew their swords for the recovery of Spain, and, after a
series of murderous conflicts, succeeded in restoring it nomi-
nally to its ancient masters. The Goths were worsted in
their turn ; but at length their king Theodoric, by one deci-
sive battle, established a Gothic monarchy in Spain, an event
which introduced the feudal system in its rigour, shook the
whole framework of society, and has influenced the fortunes,
character, and institutions, of the Spanish people up to the
times in which we live. The term Hidalgo, or son of a Goth,
became a title of distinction, and those privileged classes
were established which have been the bane of the countrv

«/

ever since. During the long dominion of these Gothic princes,
upwards of 250 years, civil and religious wars desolated the
country ; and nothing can be recorded/avourable to industry
and the arts except that, towards the termination of this pe-
riod, the enslaved country began again to enjoy something
like repose.

The Gothic dominion was doomed in its turn to a terrible
overthrow. In the year 712, the Arabs, then termed Sara-
cens, having overrun the whole of Mauritania except the
little fortress of Ceuta, landed a tumultuary army on the

130 THE SHEEP.

shores of Andalusia, and in one great battle, fought at Xeres,
decided the fate of Spain. They defeated the Christian army
of a hundred thousand men, and, pursuing their victory, re-
duced, in an incredibly short space of time, nearly all Spain
to the dominion of the Caliphs, leaving the vanquished in
possession of their laws and religion, under payment of the
tribute prescribed by the stern tenets of the Koran. A
remnant of the Goths, under their leader Pelagius, retired to
the mountains of the Asturias, whence they were afterwards
able to roll back the tide of conquest on the invaders of their
country.

The Moors, as the mixed races of Arabian and African
conquerors were termed by the Spaniards, brought with them
the arts of the East to their new country, and cultivated
them with success during their long dominion. Although
their possessions were at length divided into separate states,
often at war with one another, and almost always with the
Christians in contact with them, they brought the subject
country to a high degree of prosperity and civilization. No
people ever underwent so sudden a change of character and
habits as the wild and fiery Arabs in the delicious country
which they had rendered their own. They cultivated agri-
culture, and brought the art of irrigation especially, to great
perfection. They were skilled in the useful mechanical arts,
and established looms, forges, glass-houses, dye-works, and
manufactures of silk, cotton, paper, leather, and the like, in
all their principal cities. They even cultivated letters and
the fine arts, when all the rest of Europe was sunk in dark-
ness. Their aqueducts, bridges, mosques, and other edifices,
remain to this hour the monuments of a taste, industry, and
skill, which their successors have never been able to equal.
But that of all their arts which the most interests us with
relation to our present subject, is their woollen manufacture.
They fabricated cloths and carpets, with serges, and the other
lighter tissues suited to the warmer countries. In the city
of Seville alone were many thousand looms constantly at

THE MERINO BREED. 131

work, and others of their cities were scarcely less distinguished
for the same class of manufactures. The woollen tissues of
Spain were then the finest in the world, and not only sup-
plied the demands of luxury at home, but were carried to
other parts of Europe, to Africa, and all the countries of the
Levant.

But the splendid dominion of the Moors in Spain had early
begun to be circumscribed by warlike enemies, and at length,
in the course of ages, passed away. The Christians, under
their Gothic leaders, emerging from their northern fast-
nesses, wrested back, by slow degrees, kingdom after king-
dom ; and, after the lapse of 780 years of heroic struggles,
unexampled in the history of mankind, Granada alone re-
mained to the Moslem conquerors of all their rich dominions.
This, too, fell after a gallant defence ; the inhabitants being
left, by treaty, in possession of their property and the exercise
of their religion. The fall of Granada took place in 1492, by
which time all the separate kingdoms of Spain had beSn
united, by conquest or inheritance, in the persons of Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, so that Spain once more became a king-
dom ; and the discovery of the New World, with its bound-
less treasures, seemed to render it at once the most powerful
in Europe.

But the seeds of decay had been sown along with the Chris-
tian triumphs. As one kingdom after another was wrested
from the Moors, they were partitioned among the great seig-
niors, and the system of feudal vassalage was established in
its worst form. The powers conferred on these warlike feuda-
tories were alike in opposition to the rights of the people, and
the prerogatives of the executive power. The laws were dis-
regarded by subjects so powerful, and tumults and conflicting
jurisdictions destroyed the peace of the country. Religious
intolerance, and the usurpations of priestly authority, aggra-
vated the civil disorders ; and triumphs, which should have
been hailed as the harbingers of peace, did nothing to pro-
mote the industry and happiness of the country. Ferdinand

132 THE SHEEP.

and Isabella, wise and sagacious as their general administra-
tion was, were embued with all the bigotry of the age in
which they lived. They established the Inquisition, one of
the most savage institutions which has arisen since the dark
ages. This junta of sanguinary priests directed their ven-
geance against the Jews, in whose hands was the principal
part of the internal traffic of the country. It has been com-
puted, that, within four years after the establishment of that
tribunal, six thousand of these unfortunate persons were pub-
licly burned, and that a hundred thousand suffered every
cruelty short of death. But it was against the Moors, who,
in the days of their prosperity, had shewn so noble a for-
bearance, that the rage of these merciless ruffians was espe-
cially directed. No sooner had Granada fallen, than this
unhappy race was doomed to all the cruelty and indignity
which savage minds could devise ; and by degrees all the be-
nefits of their industry were lost to the country which they
had enriched. Such was the state of Spain when Charles V.
succeeded to the fairest dominions that ever European prince
had possessed. The history of his ambitious life is known
to all the world. With the glory of his magnificent reign,
the decay of Spanish power proceeded with silent steps. At
the age of fifty-six, amidst the germs of future wars, he re-
signed his crown to his son Philip, who, though not destitute
of talents, never arrived at the reputation of his father. This
cruel Prince was defeated in almost all his schemes of selfish
ambition ; and the treasures of America, so far from adding
to the wealth of his country, destroyed its prosperity, by
withdrawing the attention of the inhabitants from those arts
which could give it true riches. The persecution of the
Moors was continued by him with increasing atrocity. The
fires of the Holy Inquisition continued to burn by his com-
mand. The resistance which this provoked in the victims,
was the signal for further butcheries ; and, in the reign of
his successor Philip III., the ruin of the industry of the
country wTas completed by the expulsion of the remnant of the

THE MERINO BREED. 133

devoted race. Those that survived had conformed to the
observances of the Christian faith ; but they were now to be
driven away like felons from the land. The pretence was,
that, though Christians in appearance, they were Mahomme-
dans in their hearts. Thirty days were allowed these vic-
tims, above six hundred thousand in number, to prepare for
their departure ; after which it was death for any one to re-
main. Spain thus lost, by acts of imbecility and tyranny,
the most industrious of her population. The effects of this
loss she never recovered ; but, exhausted by wars, emigra-
tion, and imposts, sank into a state of languor and impo-
tence, which rendered fruitless the blessings that Nature had
left her. The flocks of her mountains remained, but the in-
dustry that gave them value was taken away. In place of
the beautiful fabrics which the arts of her people produced,
it is the raw produce only which is now exported, and that in
diminishing quantity from year to year.

The Spanish Sheep, it has been said, consist of two general
classes, comprehending' (1.) those which produce long wool,
and which are generally the inhabitants of the more culti-
vated countries ; and (2.) those which produce short and
felting wool, and which are chiefly found on the mountains,
elevated plains, and downs. Of the latter varieties of Sheep,
greatly the most numerous and valuable are termed Merino,
a word of doubtful origin, but derived from the adjective
Merino, applied by the Spaniards to sheep moving from pas -
ture to pasture ; whence, too, the word Merino, signifying a
judge of the sheep-walks, and Merinadad, denoting the juris-
diction of the judge. Numerous conjectures have been formed
regarding the origin of this race of Sheep, so distinct from
any other indigenous to Europe, It cannot, however, now
be known from what beginning, or by what progressive steps,
this remarkable race has acquired its distinctive properties.
Spain appears to have been distinguished, in every known
age, for the fineness of the wool of its Sheep, which we mav
reasonably believe to be due to the climate, herbage, and

134 THE SHEEP.

other physical circumstances of the country in which the ani-
mals are naturalized. It is, however, a reasonable supposi-
tion, that the Merino race, which produces not only a fine,
but a remarkably oily and felting wool, has been formed by
some mixture of other races with the Sheep indigenous to
the country. It has been supposed by some that it is derived
from the Oves Molles, or fine-woolled Sheep of ancient Italy ;
but the evidence upon which this opinion rests cannot be re-
garded as satisfactory. Columella, a native of the South of
Spain, informs us, that his uncle, of the same name, intro-
duced some of the fine-woolled Sheep of Italy into his Spanish
farm ; but he likewise informs us, that he procured some
African rams, which had been brought to be exhibited at the
public shows at Rome. How far these crosses affected the
native breeds cannot be known ; but the facts may lead, per-
haps, to the conclusion, that the wool of Spain, although dis-
tinguished for its fineness, had not attained the perfection at
which it afterwards arrived. There is great probability that
the Sheep of Northern Africa were mingled in blood with
those of Spain during the long period of Moorish dominion.
We have no accounts, indeed, of the importation of African
Sheep by the Moors ; but if Sheep existed in Africa capable
of yielding wool suited to the manufacture of the finer cloths
and tissues, it is certain the Moors would obtain them ; and
we learn from the chronicles of the Spanish writers, that one
at least of their own princes resorted to Africa for Sheep ;
and the illustrious Cardinal Ximenes, who governed the
country during the minority of Charles V., is distinctly re-
ported to have brought Sheep from Africa to improve the
Spanish wool. It has been said, indeed, that we know of no
race of African Sheep that produces wool resembling the
Merino. Even if this were so, it would not invalidate the
reasonable conclusions that may be drawn. The wool of
the Sheep of Africa, like that of other warm countries, is
mixed with hairs ; but underneath these hairs is a short and
downy fleece, and it is easy to suppose that, on such Sheep

THE MERINO BRilEI). 135

being transported to a colder country, the woolly portion
would be more developed, so as to afford a covering to the
animal ; but, in truth, it is known, that exceedingly fine wool
is found in the north of Africa, though the races of Sheep
that produce it have not been discriminated by travellers,
and that there is a remarkable tendency in the Sheep of
Africa to produce that copious oily secretion of the skin which
distinguishes the Merino race from any other in Europe.
The fine woollen fabrics of the Barbary States are known
over all the countries of the Levant, and are one of the few
manufactured productions which these long- desolated coun-
tries export. It has been the opinion of many, that the
Merino Sheep of Spain have been derived from England.
Stow, in his Chronicles, informs that " this yere" (namely,
1464), " King Edward IV. gave a license to pass over cer-
tain Cotteswolde Sheep into Spain ;" and Baker says,
" King Edward IV. enters into a league with John King of
Arragon, to whom he sent over a score of Costal ewes and
four rams, a small present in show, but great in the event,
for it proved of more benefit to Spain, and more detrimental
to England, than could at first have been imagined." From
this slender incident it were idle to infer that the modern
Merino owes its origin to the Sheep of England, though cer-
tainly the resemblance of the Dorset breed of England, and
particularly of the variety termed the Pink-nosed Somerset,
would seem to be sufficiently striking to give some counte-
nance to the supposition. But the successor of King John
of Arragon was Ferdinand, who married Isabella of Castile,
and it was the minister of these Sovereigns who resorted to
Africa for Sheep to improve the Spanish wool. Our early
writers, who assign an English derivation to the fine-woolled
Sheep of Spain, were probably ignorant that already Spain
was in possession of the best wool, and manufactured the
finest woollen fabrics, in Europe. Upon the whole, although
authentic documents on the subject are wanting, there is a
presumption that the Sheep of Africa were employed to per-

136 THE SHEEP.

feet the Sheep of Spain with respect to the production of
wool. The Merinos exhibit certain characters, which seem
to shew them to have been derived from some country warmer
than that in which they were naturalized, and it was during
the dominion of the African possessors of the country, that
the wool of Spain arrived at its greatest excellence.

The Spanish Merino Sheep are of small size. The skin is
of a reddish fleshy colour, and the wool is white, although
black or dun sometimes appears on the legs, faces, and ears.
The forehead is covered with a tuft of coarse wool, and coarse
wool likewise appears on the cheeks. The males have large
spiral horns ; but the females are usually destitute of horns.
Both sexes have a certain looseness of skin under the throat,
which is valued by the Spanish shepherds as indicative of a
productive fleece. The legs are long, the sides are flat, and
the chest is narrow. The fleece is altogether peculiar ; it is
close, short, and unctuous, weighing, from these causes, more in
proportion to its bulk than the fleece of any other known race
of Sheep. From its closeness, it feels hard when compressed,
but, on examination, the filaments are seen to be of extreme
tenuity, and no wool has been found comparable to it for the
property of felting. It is not annually renewed, but will con-
tinue to grow for several years.

The Spanish Merino Sheep, when we regard them as ani-
mals to be fattened for human food, are of an inferior class.
Their flesh is of indifferent quality, and they are of tender
constitutions. The females are the worst nurses of any race
of Sheep which inhabit Europe. So great is their defect in
this respect, that in Spain half the lambs are killed in order
that the ewes may be enabled to suckle the remainder, it
being calculated by the Spanish shepherds, that the milk of
two ewes is required to bring up one lamb in a proper man-
ner. Abortions are frequent, parturition is difficult, and the
ewes are more apt to desert their offspring than any other
Sheep which are known to us. In these respects the Me-
rinos resemble the ancient Oves Molles of Italy, which were

THE MERINO BREED. 137

remarkable for the delicacy of their constitution, their vora-
city, unthriftiness, and inferior power of secreting milk. The
same causes, it would appear, have produced the same effects.
Attention having been mainly directed in both cases to the
production of wool, the other properties were disregarded, of
hardiness and the power of yielding fat and milk.

The Spanish Merinos, although retaining a certain degree
of wildness, are yet very docile in their tempers. No Sheep
place themselves more unreservedly under the guidance of
the shepherds ; and, although late in arriving at maturity,
and difficult to be fattened, they are readily satisfied with
dry and innutritious pastures. When put amongst other
Sheep, they keep together, generally on the higher grounds.
At night they form themselves into a circle, the rams and
stronger sheep being on the outside, retaining thus the in-
stincts which they had acquired in their native habitation.
They are incapable of bearing the same extremes of cold and
wetness as the hardy Mountain Sheep of Northern Europe ;
and yet they do not seem to be peculiarly affected by changes
of temperature, which, doubtless, their dense fleece enables
them to resist.

The Spaniards, who by degrees subdued the Moorish king-
doms, neglected tillage, and attended chiefly to their flocks
and herds ; and then it was that those immense sheep-walks
seem to have been formed, which cover so great a part of the
country. Writers of the middle ages speak of the large flocks
possessed by individuals, amounting to thirty or forty thou-
sand each. Whether it was found that the continued heat
of the southern parts of Spain was less favourable to the fine-
ness of the fleece, or whether convenience or necessity led to
a change of pasture during the summer months, a practice
was early established of driving the flocks of sheep to the
cooler countries of the north in summer, and back to the
southern pastures on the approach of winter. These migra-
tory flocks are by some termed Transhumantes ; while the

138 THE SHEEP.

sheep that remain in the same district during the year are
termed Estantes, or stationary.

The stationary Sheep consist partly of the larger sheep of
the lower country, partly of mixed races, and partly of pure
Merinos, which do not differ in any respect from the migra-
tory Sheep of that name, except in the method of treatment.
The stationary Merinos are reared where the district or farm
affords them sufficient food during the whole season. They
are most numerous in the central countries, where the pas-
tures are less apt to be scorched by the heats of summer, as
in Segovia, and the mountain ranges to the north of Madrid.

The migratory Sheep have been reckoned to amount to ten
millions, which is probably equal to half the whole number of
the sheep of Spain. They may be divided into two great
bodies ; those which are to pass chiefly into the kingdom of
Leon, and those which are to pass further to the eastward,
to Soria, or even beyond the Ebro. These great hordes of
sheep break up from their winter cantonments south of the
Guadiana, about the 15th of April, and proceed slowly north-
ward. The rams having been admitted to the ewes in the
month of July, the lambs are born in November. In the
course of their journey northward, they are shorn in large
buildings erected for that purpose. The western or Leonese
division, crosses the Tagus at Almaraz. The easterly or
Sorian division, crosses the same river further to the east-
ward at Talavera, and in its course approaches the city of
Madrid. Having reached their destination, they are pas-
tured until the end of September, when they recommence
their journey southward. Each of these journeys, of several
hundred miles in length, occupies about six weeks, so that a
fourth part of the year is consumed in travelling. The older
Sheep, it is said, when April arrives, know the time of sett-
ing off, and are impatient to be gone. In the ten or twelve
latter days, increased vigilance is required on the part of the
shepherds, lest the Sheep should break away. Some of

THE MERINO BREED. 139

them do so, and pursue their accustomed route, often reach-
ing their former year's pastures, where they are found when
the main body arrives. But, for the most part, these strag-
glers are carried off by the wolves, which abound along the
course which the migratory flocks pursue.

These migratory Sheep are divided into flocks of a thou-
sand or more, each under the charge of its own Mayoral or
chief shepherd, who has a sufficient number of assistants
under his command. It is his province to direct all the de-
tails of the journey. He goes in advance of the flock ; and the
others follow with their dogs to collect the stragglers, and
keep off the wolves, which prowl in the distance, migrating
with the flock. A few mules or asses accompany the caval-
cade, carrying the simple necessaries of the shepherds, and
the materials for forming the nightly folds. In these folds
the Sheep are penned throughout the night, surrounded by
the faithful Dogs, which give notice of the approach of danger.

"When the Sheep arrive at the Esquileos, or shearing-
houses, which is in the early part of their journey north-
ward, a sufficient number of shearers are in attendance to
shear a thousand or more in a day. The Esquileos consist
of two large rude rooms, with a low narrow hut adjoining
termed the sweating-house. The Sheep are driven into one
of the large rooms, and such of them as are to be shorn on
the following day are forced into the long narrow hut as
close as they can be packed, where they are kept all the
night. They undergo in this state a great perspiration, the
effect of which is to soften the hard unctuous matter which
has collected on the fleece. They are then shorn without
any previous washing, and the wool is left in the Esquileo,
where it is sorted, and made ready for sale. By this ar-
rangement 1000 Sheep or more are shorn, with the delay of
only a single day.

The Shepherds employed in tending these Sheep are cal-
culated to amount to 50,000, which, supposing there to be
ten millions of Sheep, is at the rate of 200 to each shepherd.

140 THE SHEEP.

The number of Dogs is calculated at 30,000. These shep-
herds form a peculiar class of men, strongly attached to
their pursuit, and living in a state of great simplicity. Their
food is chiefly dark bread, oil, and garlick. They eat the
mutton of their Sheep, when they die or meet with accidents.
In travelling they sleep on the ground, wrapping themselves
in their cloaks ; and in winter they construct rude huts to
afford shelter. They seldom, it is said, change their calling.
The whole of this extraordinary system is regulated by a
set of laws ; and an especial tribunal, termed the Mesta,
exists for the protection of the privileges of the parties hav-
ing the right of way and pasturage. These parties claim
the right of pasturage on all the open and common land that
lies in their way, a path of ninety paces wide through the
enclosed and cultivated country, and various rights and im-
munities connected with the pasturage of the flocks. The
system is opposed to the true interests of Spain. A change
of pasture ma^ be required for the flocks in the drier coun-
tries at certain seasons, but the periodical migration of so
great a body of Sheep cannot be necessary to the extent to
which it takes place. Enormous abuses are committed on
the cultivated country as they pass along. A fourth part of
the year consumed in travelling, must be prejudicial to the
health of the animals in a greater degree than the benefits
they derive from a change of pasturage. A prodigious mor-
tality accordingly takes place amongst these Sheep ; and more
than half the lambs, it is said, are voluntarily killed, in order
that the others may be brought to maturity. The sale of the
lamb-skins, which form a subject of export to other countries,
is indeed a source of profit, but nothing equal to what the
rearing of the animals to their state of maturity would pro-
duce. That these extensive migrations are necessary to
preserve the fineness of the wool, is conceived to be an error.
Attention to breeding and rearing would more certainly pro-
duce this effect than a violent change of place. In Spain
itself there are numerous flocks of stationary Merinos, whose

THE MERINO BREED. 141

wool is of all tlie fineness required ; and in other countries of
Europe, where the Sheep are never moved off the farms that
produce them, wool is produced superior to that of the migra-
tory flocks of Spain. But the system is of great antiquity,
and is so riveted in the habits of this ignorant and intractable
people, that it is likely to be one of the last of those ancient
abuses which will yield to the desire of change, which at this
moment agitates the feelings of men in this distracted country.
The Spaniards long preserved the monopoly of this race
of Sheep with jealous care ; but other countries at length
were able to carry off the Golden Fleece of Spain, and the
Merino race is now spread over a great part of Europe. It
has been carried to North America, to the southern extre-
mity of Africa, and to the boundless plains of New Holland,
in all of which places it has been found to retain, with, won-
derful constancy, the characters which had been imprinted
on it in its native pastures, and in certain cases to surpass in
useful properties that of the parent stock. The first country,
it is believed, which acquired the pure Merinos, was Sweden.
In 1723, M. Alstroemer, a spirited and patriotic individual,
was enabled to import a small flock of pure Merinos. In
1793, the Swedish Government entered with zeal into the
plan, established an agricultural school under the superin-
tendence of M. Alstroemer, and used every means to extend
the breed. The measures adopted succeeded, to the degree
of diminishing the importation of short wool, and increasing
the manufacture of the finer cloths ; and, after the lapse of
more than a century, the stranger race produces wool nearly
as soft and fine as at its first importation. The Sheep are
housed during the six months of winter, and generally during
the nights in summer ; and it is by means of this artificial
treatment that the wool preserves its original properties.
The ewes are between two and three years old before they
are suffered to breed, and seven years old before they are
fattened for the butcher. They are far inferior in hardiness

142 THE SHEEP.

to the native races ; and, if due attention were paid to the
cultivation of the latter, it may be questioned if they would
not be of superior economical value to the breeders. It is
supposed that there are about 100,000 of the pure and mixed
Merinos in Sweden, reckoned to be about l-25th part of the
Sheep of the country.

France, although in contact with Spain on the Pyrenees,
did not attempt to acquire the Merino race until some time
before the middle of last century, when the illustrious Col-
bert, pursuing his numerous plans for extending the arts and
commerce of France, brought several Merinos across the
mountains for the purpose of improving the native Sheep.
His plan, though well devised, was opposed by the prejudices
of the people, and entirely failed. But in the year 1786, the
French Government, adopting the same design, imported a
considerable flook of pure Merinos, and established them at
the royal farm of Rambouillet, near Paris, where their de-
scendants yet remain. Every means were used to extend
the breed amongst the agriculturists of France, but with
little comparative success. In 1796 the Directory of the
French Republic took yet more active means to multiply the
breed. By a secret article in the treaty of Bale, they obtained
power to import from Spain 100 rams and 1000 ewes annu-
ally for five years. The Spanish Government quickly re-
pented of this forced concession, and political events pre-
vented the completion of the scheme, so that, of the stipulated
number, only 2000 rams and ewes reached their destination.
Napoleon resumed the project, and during his reign many
Merinos were brought across the frontiers. In this manner
have been introduced a great number of Merinos into France,
which have either remained pure, or been employed to cross
the native races. But, upon the whole, France has not been
very successful in this branch of husbandry. Although the
climate and soil of France are eminently suited to the pro-
duction of fine wool, the minute division of property in land,

THE MERINO BREED. 143

the small extent of sheep pastures, and the habits of the
peasantry, have not heen favourable to any general system
of improvement applied to this race of Sheep.

It is in the German States that the Merino race has been
the most widely diffused, and the most successfully culti-
vated. The Elector of Saxony, on the close of the Seven
Years' War in 1765, obtained from the King of Spain 100
Merino rams and 200 ewes, taken from the best flocks of
Spain. He kept them partly pure on his own farms near
Dresden, and he partly distributed them throughout the
country, for the improvement of the native Saxon Sheep. It
was soon found that the race preserved all its properties,
and was capable, under skilful treatment, and by due selec-
tion of the breeding parents, of surpassing, in the excellence
of the fleece, the stock from which it had been derived. The
most judicious means were employed to extend this branch
of husbandry, by the establishment of schools for the instruc-
tion of shepherds, by the circulation of tracts, and otherwise,
and very soon the wools of Saxony became the finest in
Europe. The Saxon sheep-masters bestow a care in the
selection of the Sheep producing the finest wool, which has
no parallel in any other country. The best are reserved
for propagating the race, and by this means the characters
which indicate the property of producing fine wool, are main-
tained or increased in the progeny. This is an application
of the true principles of breeding ; and the care with which
the system is pursued, is the main cause of that unrivalled
excellence to which the fine-woolled Sheep of Saxony have
attained. The Sheep are kept in houses during the winter ;
and the general treatment of them, with respect to food, is
adapted to promote the fineness of the fleece, the production
of mutton being regarded as of secondary moment.

Prussia followed Saxony in the same course of improve-
ment. In the year 1768, M. Fink, near Halle, in the Duchy
of Magdeburg, introduced some Saxo-Merino Sheep, and ten
years later several pure Merinos from Spain. His endea-

144 THE SHEEP.

vours to improve the Sheep of the country attracted at length
the notice of the Prussian Government, and, in 1786, Frede-
rick the Great imported direct from Spain 100 rams and 200
ewes of the pure Merino Breed. The greater part of this
imported flock died near Berlin of various maladies ; and
those that were sent to distant parts of the country degene-
rated, through the carelessness and want of skill of those to
whom they were entrusted. M. Fink was commissioned to
make a second purchase of 1000 pure Merinos ; and agricul-
tural schools were established, under the superin tendance of
M. Fink himself, for the instruction of shepherds, and for
disseminating a knowledge of the method of treatment of the
Sheep. These endeavours were successful, to the extent of
improving, by the admixture of blood, the native races, and
shewed that the pure Merinos could be reared in Prussia
without deterioration of the properties of the fleece. The
animals are chiefly fed on hay, straw, and corn ; and the
same precautions are used as are necessary in other north-
ern countries for protecting the Sheep from the inclemencies
of the weather. A considerable number of Merinos of pure
and mixed races are now produced in the Prussian States.
The wool of Silesia, in particular, stands in the first rank,
and has been made greatly to surpass that of the finest of
the migratory Sheep of Spain.

Austria early pursued the same course which had been
followed elsewhere. In 1775, the Empress Maria Theresa
imported into Hungary 300 Merinos, and established them
at the imperial farm of Meropail. A school for farmers and
shepherds was established, and printed instructions were
issued, regarding the nature of the wool, and the methods of
treatment to be adopted. Subsequent importations were
made, and now a large proportion of the Sheep of Hungary
are either pure Merinos, or Merinos mixed in blood with the
indigenous races. The enormous estates of the Hungarian
nobles, whatever may be their effect on general industry, are
well adapted to the husbandry of Sheep ; and this country

THE MERINO BREED. 145

can now boast of wool equalling in fineness that of the
mountains of Spain. In Bohemia, and almost all the other
Austrian States, Merinos have been introduced, and every-
where have been seen to equal or surpass the parent stock.
In Wurtemberg, Hanover, Bavaria, and other countries of
Germany, the same means have been employed with suc-
cess, to introduce the Merino race. It has been carried to
Denmark and Norway, to Poland and Switzerland, and to the
dominions of Russia, especially on the Black Sea, where a
climate exists calculated to bring every natural production
to excellence. The Merino race has thus been naturalized
over the greater part of Europe, from Scandinavia to the
Crimea ; and Spain can never more possess the monopoly of
a production which had descended to her as an inheritance
for so many ages. The experiments shew, that a certain
class of characters having been imprinted on a breed of ani-
mals, these characters can be preserved under very varying
conditions of soil and temperature, by artificial treatment
suited to the ends proposed, and by selecting, for the con-
tinuance of the race, the animals in which the properties
required are sufficiently developed.

The Merino Breed, which had extended to so many coun-
tries of Europe, was at a period more recent introduced into
the British Islands. George III., a zealous and patriotic
agriculturist, resolved to make a trial of this celebrated
breed on his own farms, and means were taken to obtain a
small Merino flock. This was done clandestinely ; the ani-
mals were selected from the flocks of different individuals,
where they could best be got ; and were driven through Portu-
gal, and embarked at Lisbon. They were safely landed at
Portsmouth, and conducted to the King's farm at Kew.
The flock was bad ; the selection had been carelessly or igno-
rantly made ; and the animals being taken from different
flocks, presented no uniformity of characters. It was then
resolved to make direct application to the Spanish Govern-
ment for permission to export some Sheep from the best

146 THE SHEEP.

flocks. The request was at once complied with ; a small
and choice flock was presented to His Majesty by the Mar-
chioness del Campo di Alange of the Negretti flocks, esteemed
to be the most valuable in Spain ; and, in return, His Majesty
presented to the Marchioness eight splendid coach-horses.
This flock arrived in England in 1791, and was immediately
transferred to the Royal farms, while all those previously
imported were disposed of or destroyed.

On the first change of these Sheep to the moist and luxu-
riant pastures of England, they suffered greatly from dis-
eases, and, above all, rot, which destroyed numbers of them ;
and from foot-rot, which affected them to a grievous extent.
By a little change of pastures, these evils were remedied ;
and, after the first season, the survivors became reconciled
to their new situation, and their progeny seemed thoroughly
naturalized, and remained as free from diseases as the Sheep
of the country. The wool was from year to year carefully
examined : that of the original stock remained unaffected by
the change of climate, while, in that of their descendants,
little degeneracy could be detected either in its felting pro-
perties or fineness.

This experiment excited extreme interest throughout the
kingdom. Various individuals endeavoured to cultivate the
pure race, but experiments were mainly directed towards
crossing the native breeds with Merino rams, in the hope of
combining the fineness of the Spanish fleece with the econo-
mical qualities of the English Sheep. With this design, the
Merino rams were made to cross the South Down, the Wilt-
shire, the Leicester, and the Byeland ewes ; and in some
cases the experiment was reversed, and the English rams,
especially of the Eyeland Breed, were put to the Merino
ewes. Many distinguished agriculturists, Mr Coke, after-
wards Earl of Leicester, Sir Joseph Banks, the Duke of Bed-
ford, the late Lord Somerville, and others, prosecuted these
curious and important experiments ; and the writings of Dr
Parry and others brought the subject in a prominent manner
before the country.

THE MERINO BREED. 147

In the year 1804, when the sale took place from His Ma-
jesty's stock, many purchasers, the advocates of the Merino
Breed, came forward, and the Sheep were sold at high,
though not at exorbitant, prices ; the average price of the
rams being L.19, 14s. a-head, and that of the ewes L.8 : 15 : 6.
In the following autumn, a similar sale took place at advanc-
ing prices. Seventeen rams and twenty-one ewes were sold
for L.1148, 14s., being at the average rate of L.30 : 4 : 6.
At succeeding sales, these rates were maintained or increased.
In 1810, thirty-three rams brought L.1920, 9s., or L.38 : 9 : 11
a-head, and seventy ewes, at the average rate of about
L.37, 10s.

In the year 1811, a society was established under the pre-
sidency of the distinguished and indefatigable Sir Joseph
Banks, with the express design of promoting and encourag-
ing the cultivation of the Merino breed. Fifty-four vice-
presidents were named, and local committees established in
almost every district, or county, of England. This Society,
the most influential, from its numbers and the agricultural
skill of its members, that had yet been established in Britain,
pursued their task with spirit and zeal. Amongst other means
adopted for promoting the purposes of this institution, was
the offering of premiums for pure Merinos, or for the crosses
with the native Sheep. Every thing favoured the purposes
of this patriotic band, and in an especial degree the unex-
ampled prosperity of the landed interests of the country, and
the enormous prices of the finest class of wools, produced^by
the events of the war.

Public opinion, however, and the practical judgment of
farmers, had, even before this period, been reducing the pre-
tensions of the Merino breed, and the mixed progeny, to the
proper standard, as the subjects of economical culture. It
was found, that however promising were the crosses at first,
the progeny invariably fell short of the expectations formed.
They were small in size, less hardy than the British parents,
and generally of inferior form. So perfectly have time and
experience confirmed these results, that there scarcely exists,

148 THE SHEEP.

except in the hands of the curious, a single flock of the mixed
progeny from which so much was anticipated. They have
either been abandoned altogether, or the breeders have gra-
dually recrossed with English blood, until almost all traces
of the Spanish mixture have been lost.

In place, however, of attempts to engraft the Spanish upon
the English stock, other breeders preserved the pure Merinos,
and this experiment was greatly more successful than the
other. The naturalized Merinos have been found to increase
in size, in disposition to fatten, in the power of the females
to yield milk, and, by attention in breeding, to improve in
the external form. The wool becomes longer, and loses some-
what, though not much, of its tenuity, unless, indeed, the
means are taken to secure the animals, as in Saxony, from
cold, the necessary effect of which is to call forth a greater
production of wool for the protection of the animal. The
naturalized Merinos have never acquired the hardiness of the
native races, and would perish at once on the mountains on
which the Welsh, the Cheviot, and the Black-faced Heath-
breeds, are acclimated. Nevertheless, analogy conducts us
to the conclusion, that the Merinos are capable of becoming,
by degrees, adapted to the climate in which they are reared.

The objections to the cultivation of Merinos in the Bri-
tish Islands are not that they cannot be reared, inured to the
cold, and improved in form, with a moderate preservation
of the characters of the wool, but that they do not, as a
breed, equal, in economical importance, those of which we
are already possessed. The wool, indeed, is the most va-
luable and abundant of that of any race of Sheep that we
can rear ; but the wool is not the only profitable produce of
Sheep in this country ; and it is by a combination of the pro-
duction of mutton and wool, that the interests of the farmer
are best served. The breed is in the country, can be ob-
tained by every one, and has been the subject of trial by the
best farmers ; and yet we see it almost everywhere aban-
doned in favour of the native races. Did the British farmer,
like the Saxon, derive his principal profit from the fleece,

THE MERINO BREED. 149

and little from the carcass, then he might cultivate the pro-
duction of the one in preference to the other ; but this is not
the case under the present circumstances of this cojuntry, and
the British farmer's interest is therefore different. He can-
not afford to shut the animals in houses for half the year, for
the purpose of protecting them from the inclemency of the
weather, in order that the wool may be fine ; nor to feed
them on hay and corn, in preference to the abundant roots,
herbage, and forage plants, with which the agriculture of the
country enables him to supply his animals.

If individual interest does not admit of the cultivation of
fine wool in preference to abundant mutton, and the adoption
of a breed of inferior hardiness, early maturity, and fatten-
ing powers, so neither does it seem that the national interest
requires it. Spain, and other countries of Europe where the
fleece is more valuable than the carcass, are employed in
producing fine wool, and the extended commercial relations
of England enable her to obtain it, in the quantity which her
manufacturers consume, from all these countries. Even her
own colonies are now enabled to supply it in increasing
abundance. Is it not better, then, that we should trust to
commerce for the supplies of a commodity which can be
raised more cheaply than at home, and devote our Sheep
especially to the production of that food with which no other
country can supply us, contenting ourselves with a kind of
wool which, though less fine than that produced elsewhere,
is all required and consumed by the manufactures of the
country ?

The most distinguished breeders of Merinos at this time
in England are Lord Western and Mr Benett, M. P. for
"Wiltshire. Lord Western's stock is either Saxon, or has
been crossed by Saxon rams ; Mr Benett's is pure Spanish,
and has undergone progressive improvement, by selection
of individuals of the same blood. The number of his flock
amounted at one time toTOOO ; but it was subsequently reduced
to 3500. It was treated in the ordinary manner of Sheep in

150 THE SHEEP,

this country. Lord Western's, it is believed, is managed
more in the Saxon manner, with respect to protection from
the weather. Mr Benett's fine flock, notwithstanding that it
had been thus acclimated, perished in great numbers in a
severe winter some years ago, proving that the race had not
yet lived sufficiently long in England to be perfectly inured to
its cold and variable climate. Other gentlemen have imported
Merinos direct from Saxony, and thus obtained at once the
highest perfection of the fleece ; but there is little reason to
believe that their experiments will be more successful than
those that had been previously made. Merinos have been
lately carried in some numbers to Ireland, and may perhaps
prove more advantageous than some of the existing breeds ;
but this will not shew the great value of the Merinos, but
the comparatively little value of the races which they have
supplanted.

The Merino breed of Sheep has likewise been carried to a
different region of the globe, and been subjected to a new set
of external agents. The great insular continent of New Hol-
land, presenting characters, in its vegetable and animal pro-
ductions, which distinguish^ it from all other countries, has
now received this important race, which has been found to
adapt itself with the utmost facility to its new condition.
The first European settlement in this remarkable country
was made in the year 1788, when a party of English crimi-
nals was landed in Botany Bay. To supply the early colo-
nists with wool and mutton, and establish a permanent flock
for their future maintenance, Sheep were imported from
Bengal. These were the small hairy animals found in that
part of India. It was soon discovered that these miserable
Sheep improved in their useful properties by the change of
climate and food. They became prolific, the hair diminished
in quantity, and a fleece of soft wool, though not of great
fineness, succeeded. This simple experiment added to the
many proofs before existing of the all-pervading influence of
external circumstances over the form and characters of ani-

THE MERINO BREED. 151

mals. The importation of Bengal Sheep was soon after
followed by that of superior races from the mother country.
Individuals of the Leicester and South Down breeds were by
degrees imported, affording the kinds which were wanted by
the infant colony, namely, animals that should supply food
rather than wool. This experiment was entirely successful,
and the intermixture of the new Sheep enlarged the size, and
increased the economical value, of the original race. The
wool even of these crosses, notwithstanding of the most
slovenly treatment on the part of their owners, was found
equal or superior to the finest produced in the mother country ;
and in twelve years from the first landing of the settlers, the
Sheep of the colony had increased to upwards of 6000. The
result of these trials, and the growing prosperity of the
settlement, produced a desire on the part of the wealthier
colonists to try the fine-woolled Sheep of Spain, which had
been introduced into the British Islands. A few of this race
were obtained from England, and the result, like all the pre-
vious experiments, proved the admirable adaptation of the
country to the rearing of Sheep, and in an especial degree to
the production of a fine and soft wool. After a few crosses
with the existing race, the wool produced was found to be
nearly equal to that of the pure Merinos of Spain ; and when
the original race was preserved without intermixture, the
wool became more fine and soft than that of the same race
in their native pastures. Merinos were now imported direct
from Saxony, and this experiment likewise was successful.
When the breed was preserved pure, the wool preserved its
essential properties, with that increase of flexibility and soft-
ness which is the distinctive character of the Australian wools.
Some of the wool of these Saxon Sheep, when it had been
properly cleaned and attended to, brought the highest price
of any other in the English market, and led to the belief, that
these rising colonies were destined to supply the manufac-
tures of England with wool superior to that of any other
country. These expectations were formed chiefly in con-

152 THE SHEEP.

sequence of the peculiar softness of these new wools, which
fitted them to amalgamate admirably with the harsher wools
of the country in certain manufactures. But although the
best of the Australian wools still sustain a high character,
they are not found to equal the Saxon, in fineness, and that
peculiar property which fits them for the manufacture of
cloth. This is indeed the consequence of the diiferent con-
ditions of the two countries. In Saxony labour is cheap, and
an attention can be devoted to the improvement of the Sheep
and their wool, which is impracticable in a thinly peopled
country, where the want of labourers cannot.be supplied at
any price. Under such circumstances, there must be a rude-
ness of management inconsistent with the minute attention
necessary to preserve and increase to the uttermost the valu-
able properties of the fleece. The matter of surprise is not,
that, under such circumstances, the Australian production
should be inferior to the Saxon, but that it should so nearly
equal it.

The island of Van Diemen's Land, situated to the south
of New Holland, between the latitudes of nearly 41° and 44°
south, enjoying a cooler temperature, and being more exempt
from the severe droughts of the sister country, was settled
by two ships which had proceeded from England with con-
victs. The first destination of these persons was Port Philip,
which they reached in the autumn of 1805 ; but it being con-
ceived that obstacles existed to the establishment of a per-
manent settlement at that port, they were carried to the river
Derwent, where, soon after, Hobart Town, the capital of the
new colony, was founded. Sheep of the defective Indian
breed were soon afterwards introduced into the colony ; but
it was not until the year 1820, that the cultivation of fine-
woolled Sheep was fully established. A flock of 300 Merino
lambs was imported from Sydney ; but, in consequence of a
distemper which broke out amongst them previous to sailing,
only 181 arrived at their destination in September 1820.
These were distributed amongst the colonists about Hobart

THE MERINO BREED. 153

Town ; and, some years later, pure Merinos were imported
from Saxony. Thus the basis of a fine-woolled breed of
Sheep has been laid in this interesting island, although as
yet the wool produced has not equalled in value that of the
sister colony.

The progressive increase in the numbers of sheep in these
noble possessions is without example. In the year 1810, only
167 Ib. of wool were imported into England from the colony
of New South Wales. In 1820, the quantity had increased to
99,418 Ib. ; in 1830, to 973,336 Ib. : in 1832, the quantity
brought from both colonies was 3,516,869 Ib. ; in 1838,
8,067,243 Ib. ; and since this period the importation has been
proceeding in a constantly increasing ratio. Other settle-
ments have been established on the coasts of New Holland,
at Swan River, at Port Philip, and elsewhere ; and more re-
cently the tide of emigration has flowed into the lovely islands
of New Zealand, which, however, being covered with dense
forests, are less suited to the multiplication of sheep than the
vast plains of New Holland. Thus, in regions almost un-
known to the civilized world until within the memory of the
living generation, are to be found the means of supplying the
woollen manufactures of England with the raw material in
boundless quantity ; and it is gratifying to humanity to think
that the foundations of this great storehouse of public wealth
have been laid, not on violence and bloodshed, but on agricul-
tural prosperity, and the improvement of the fleece.

The attention of the Australian colonists has been natu-
rally directed to the cultivation of fine wool ; but it is evident
that there are limits to the profits to be derived from this
commodity, both from the increasing production of the coun-
try, and from the rivalship of the districts of Europe where
the Merino wool is cultivated. It is a question, therefore,
whether the colonists should not now direct attention to the
long or combing wools as well as to the short or felting. It
is probable that the long wools of England would acquire, in
these favoured climes, the very properties which would benefit

154 THE SHEEP.

them the most, and that the heavier fleeces of the Leicester,
the Cotswold, and the Old Lincoln Sheep, would yield a larger
profit to the wool-grower than even the higher priced Merino.
But the two classes of Sheep should be kept entirely distinct.
The Merino breed should be selected and cultivated with all
the care which the state of the country will allow. Merinos
of the pure race may be obtained in England ; but in num-
bers too small to supply any considerable demand. They
would be more conveniently procured from Saxony, proper
precautions being employed in making the selection from
flocks of established reputation. The best period for exa-
mining the flocks is the month of January, or even February.
The cheapest mode of getting an improved stock is to pur-
chase the refuse or cast ewes ; but the proper mode to insure
the obtaining of them of the best sorts is to make a selection
out of the good flocks of the country. Unless, however, the
purchaser is a very good judge of the quality of the wool, he
will require an assistant in the country, who, for a fixed
amount per head, will make the selection ; and it will be
proper for those who are to make considerable purchases to
send a trusty person to the country. The price for refuse
ewes is from four to eight dollars, at 3s. per dollar ; of se-
lected ewes, from ten to twenty dollars, and of rams, from
k L.3 to L.20. Some remarkably fine rams even bring prices
so high as from L.50 to L.200 ; but this great expense can
never be required, except in the case of individuals who al-
ready possess highly improved flocks, which they are desirous
of bringing to the greatest degree of perfection. In the case
of Australian settlers, it would be well for a number to com-
bine and purchase a considerable number at once, as from
1000 to 2000 ewes, with a corresponding number of rams.
The best mode of proceeding would be, to collect the Sheep
at Biesa on the Elbe, and ship them to Hamburg, a separate
boat being hired for the purpose. Shipments might also be
made from Dresden. The precautions to be used in making
these purchases are, to deal only with persons of known cha-

THE RYELAND BREED. 155

racter, and, as has been said, to obtain an assistant in the
country to select the Sheep, and to send a trusty servant to
take charge of them. The expense of purchasing and trans-
porting the Sheep to England is not considerable ; and when
we consider the immense national importance of conveying
to our Australian possessions the best of the race that can be
obtained, it is to be trusted that the colonists will find it for
their interest to resort to countries where the animals can
be obtained in the greatest purity and perfection.

XV.— THE RYELAND BREED.

In the tract of country lying westward of the Severn, and
bounded by the mountains of Wales, there has in every
known period existed a race of Sheep, of small size, destitute
of horns, and noted for the softness and fineness of their
wool. The part of England where this breed was long the
most diffused and cultivated was the county of Hereford, a
tract of the old red sandstone formation, stretching from the
confines of Wales to near the Severn. But the breed ex-
tended into Monmouthshire on the south, into Shropshire on
the north, and into Gloucestershire and Warwickshire on the
east, occupying many forests, commons, and wastes. The
variety reared in the county of Hereford was generally termed
the Hereford Breed. Sometimes it was characterized by the
names of the places in which it was found in the greatest
numbers or perfection. It was sometimes termed the Archen-
field Breed, and sometimes the Ross Breed, from the south-
eastern district of the county lying between the Forest of
Dean and the Malvern Hills. But it became at length more
generally known by the name of the Ryeland Breed, from
certain sandy tracts formerly devoted to the production of
rye, situated southward of the river Wye.

We have no historical record of the derivation of this
breed from any other country, and may therefore assume

156 THE SHEEP.

that it had been indigenous beyond all memorial to the dis-
tricts which it inhabited. It may not unreasonably be in-
ferred to be a variety of that widely-diffused race of soft-
woolled Sheep which formerly extended from the mountains
and islands of Scotland to the mountains of Wales, and
which was probably in possession of the earliest Celtic in-
habitants of the British islands. From its diminutive size,
its patience of scanty food, and the lightness of its fleece, we
may conclude that it was the native of countries of a low
degree of fertility, probably of districts of forest, which, until
cleared of their wood, are always unproductive with respect
to the nutritive grasses. The county of Hereford, it is to be
observed, though now rendered rich and beautiful by art,
was formerly covered with woods, and interspersed with ex-
tensive commons and chases, which long remained waste and
barren. "We are not therefore to conclude, that, because the
country is now fertilized, it was not formerly suited to the
maintenance of a race of small Sheep. The nature of the
wool of this breed, too, which was noted beyond any other
for its fineness, caused the breed to be preserved unmixed,
and with nearly its pristine characters, long after the county
of Hereford had become capable of supporting larger ani-
mals.

The wool of the Ryeland breed was long regarded as the
finest that the British islands produced. The ancient city
of Leominster, being surrounded by a country producing
this kind of wool, and being the market-town to which it was
brought for sale, gave name to the wool of the country, which
was termed Lemster Wool, or Lemster Ore. Drayton, who
wrote in the reign of Henry VIII., when comparing the wool
of the Cotteswold Hills with the lighter fleeces of Lemster,
bears testimony to the superior fineness of the latter. Cam-
den, describing the town of Leominster, " which," says he,
" was also called Leon Minster, and Lyon's Monastery, of a
Lyon that appeared to a religious man in a vision," says,
" The greatest name and fame is of the wool in the territories

THE RYELAND BREED. ' 157

round about it (Lemster Ore they call it), which, setting aside
that of Apulia and Tarentum, all Europe counteth to be the
verie best."

A method of treating the Sheep of this part of England,
calculated to preserve and increase the fineness of the wool,
existed until a recent period. The animals were kept during
the night in large houses termed Cots, capable of containing
from 100 to 500 Sheep. This practice was probably adopted
in early times, for the purpose of protecting the animals
from the wolves which greatly abounded in the forests of the
western counties. It may be supposed to have been continued
afterwards by habit ; but experience would shew that it was
eminently calculated to preserve and increase that fineness
of the wool for which the breed was distinguished. The
animals in these cots were sparingly fed with pease-straw
and other dry forage, a system eminently favourable to the
production of a short and delicate fleece.

The modern Ryelands, where they yet exist, retain the
diminutive size of their progenitors. Their form is compact,
and their mutton is juicy and delicate. They are gentle and
well formed ; and they are patient in a remarkable degree
of scanty fare. Both sexes are destitute of horns. The
colour of the whole fleece is white, and the wool extends
forward to the face, forming a tuft on the forehead. This
wool is yet the finest produced in England. It is not, how-
ever, equal in this respect to that of the Spanish Merino,
nor so well suited, by its felting properties, for the purposes
of the clothier, on which account, since the extensive intro-
duction of the fine wools of Spain and Germany, its relative
value has greatly declined. Further, the Sheep are of small
size, and inferior in economical value to the races which the
country is capable of maintaining. Hence, the inducement
to cultivate the breed has been constantly diminishing, so
that it has now almost ceased to exist in a state of purity.

The smallness of the size of the Ryelands led to innumer-
able experiments in crossing, with the design of increasing

158 THE SHEEP.

the weight of the animals, and in the hope of maintaining
the fineness of the wool. The experiments failed, as might
have been anticipated, with respect to the preservation of
the quality of the wool, but succeeded in increasing the size
of the progeny. But the system of crossing, which excited
the greatest attention, and from which the most favourable
results were anticipated, was with the Spanish Merino, soon
after the introduction of that celebrated breed into England.
Strenuous exertions were used by individuals and public
associations to introduce the Spanish blood, and sanguine
calculations were made of the benefits likely to result to the
woollen manufactures of the country. Time and experience
have proved the fallacy of all these hopes, and left to agri-
culturists an instructive lesson on the principles of breeding.
The first crosses promised well ; but, in breeding from the
mixed progeny, it was found that, while the wool had become
inferior to that of the Spanish stock, the hardy qualities, the
goodness of form, and the aptitute to fatten, of the English
breed, were impaired. The crosses became remarkably di-
minutive ; and the whole labour of the experiments was found
to have been thrown away. It was assumed that the Spanish
Merino and the English Ryeland were the same race. A
better knowledge of either would have shown that the two
races were remarkably distinct in their characters ; and that,
if any of the English breeds were suited to this kind of
crossing, it was the Dorset and Pink-nosed Somerset, and
not the diminutive Ryeland. This species of crossing has
been long in disuse, but numbers of the flocks in Hereford-
shire and the adjoining counties still exhibit traces of the
Spanish mixture.

Some breeders endeavoured to improve the native race by
selection of individuals and superior feeding. The breed,
however, was naturally diminutive, and numerous genera-
tions of Sheep must have passed away before this radical
character of the race could have been changed. The system,
therefore, was resorted to, of effecting the end by crossing

THE RYELAND BREED. 159

with larger animals, as the Southdowns, the Leicesters, and
the Cotswolds. It was found, however, that scarce any of
our races of Sheep was with more difficulty amalgamated
with others than the ancient Ryeland ; and a vast number of
worthless Sheep were long produced in Herefordshire by
these crosses. A better course was found to be, to substitute
at once the stranger stock which it was proposed to culti-
vate. Numbers accordingly, chiefly Leicesters and Cotswolds,
are now reared in the country, and the "Ryeland breed is
diminishing from year to year. The last great cultivator of
the Ryeland Breed was Mr Tomkins of Kingspion, the dis-
tinguished improver of the modern breed of Hereford cattle.
Mr Tomkins persevered in keeping up the breed of his native
county. He succeeded in communicating to it greater
symmetry of form, but he did not succeed in enlarging the
size to the degree of rendering it of equal economical value
with the races by which it has been supplanted.

All the minor varieties of this once celebrated breed have
partaken more or less of change. One variety, greatly dis-
tinguished, inhabited the Forest of Dean, a tract of the coal-
formation lying between the Severn and Wye. This tract
was formerly covered with one of the densest forests in
England, — " So dark and terrible," says Camden, " by reason
of crooked and winding waies, as also the grisly shade thereof,
that it made the inhabitants more fierce, and boulder to com-
mit robberies." By the discovery of mines in this forest, the
woods were gradually thinned, and at last nearly extirpated ;
and it then continued to be occupied by a kind of Sheep,
which, until our own times, were held in the greatest esti-
mation for the fineness of their wool. The Dean Forest
breed has now disappeared in the pure state, having merged
in the crosses of all kinds that have been made with it. A
similar variety occupied the Malvern Hills on the confines of
Worcestershire ; but here the flocks have likewise become
a mixture of various races. In Shropshire were several
varieties of the same hornless sheep, inhabiting the different

160 THE SHEEP.

forests and commons. The Chum Forest breed had wool
weighing from 2 Ib. to 3 Ib. the fleece ; and the Shawberry
breed, sometimes called the Tadpole, from its diminutive
size, had wool of extraordinary tenuity and softness. The
mere remnants of these and other varieties are now only to
be found ; the admixture of the races of the lower country,
or of the mountain breeds of Wales, having nearly obliterated
the former distinctions.

Thus, the finest-woolled Sheep of the British Islands may
be said to be extinct as a breed. Their former value, arising
from the adaptation of their wool to the manufacture of
native cloth, has been lost. Commerce now supplies us with
wool more adapted to the purposes of the clothier ; and other
native races afford a material better suited, by the length
and strength of its filaments, to the class of manufactures in
which the combing wools are employed. These longer-
woolled Sheep are likewise fitted to yield a larger return to
the breeder who has artificial food at command ; and hence
the disappearance of the fine-woolled Sheep of the western
counties, is merely the result of the better cultivation of the
country, and of changes in the channels of commerce and
manufacturing industry.

XVL— THE SOUTH DOWN BREED.

Of the breeds of Short-woolled Sheep which formerly in-
habited the mountains, downs, forests, and less fertile dis-
tricts of the country, some, it has been seen, were distin-
guished by being of small size, by being mostly destitute of
horns, and by having the legs and faces white ; and to this
class is to be referred the beautiful little breed of Hereford-
shire, and other districts west of the Severn, already men-
tioned. But another class of breeds, still more diffused, is
distinguished by the individuals having the legs and faces of
a dark colour, and, in most cases, by the presence of horns

THE SOUTH DOWN BREED. 16 L

in both sexes. Under this class is comprehended the Black-
faced Heath Breed, which, it has been seen, inhabits the cen-
tral chain of bleak mountains which stretch from the borders
of Scotland southwards. This breed has large spiral horns,
has the face and limbs covered with black hair, and has a
moderately short, yet harsh and shaggy fleece. But these
characters, proper to the race in the more elevated moun-
tains which it inhabits, yield to the influence of external
agents, so that, as we recede from the wilder country, a
change appears in the form and aspect of the animals, and in
the properties of the wool. Westward of the central moun-
tains, in the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland,
the wool becomes more soft, and the form of the animals less
robust. In the Yorkshire Wolds, to which the same race
formerly extended, there was an equal deviation from the
parent type ; and still more in the commons and forests of
Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and other inland counties. As we
approach to the confines of Wales, the Black-faced breeds
approximate more to the characters of the Sheep of the
higher Welsh mountains, the wool becoming more soft. Ap-
proaching to the Welsh type are the Delamere Forest Breed
in the county of Cheshire, and the Morfe Common Breed in
the county of Shropshire. The latter inhabited a country of
limited extent near Bridgenorth, on the Severn ; and, until
our own times, was noted for the fineness of its wool. A
similar race extended southward through Herefordshire,
which, from the delicacy and softness cf its wool, was reck-
oned little inferior to the Ryeland itself. Turning to the
great chalk districts of England, occupying the south-eastern
parts of the island, there were likewise numerous varieties
of Short-woolled Sheep, in some of which the horns, and even
the dark colour of the face and limbs, disappeared. In this
class are the Old Norfolk, still inhabiting the heaths of Nor-
folk and Cambridge, the Old Wiltshire, the Old Berkshire, the
Hampshire, and numerous minor varieties, which formerly
possessed the various commons, and heaths of this part of

IC'J TIIK Nil UK I'.

Kngland. I hit, of all these varieties, m»\v the most, ini|MHM
ant and generally diffused, is that which inhabits the range
of chalky hills of Sussex, commonly termed the South |)owns
The South Downs of Sussex consist of a r.-n^c of low
chalky hills, of live or six miles in breadth, si retching along
ihe coast upwards of sixty miles, an 1 passing into the chalky
lauds of Hants on the west. In contact with this range of
hills, is a tract of low cultivated ground, which is usually
connected with the Down farms, although many of the latter
have no vale or tlal land attached. The herbage of these
hills is short., but well adapted for the keeping of Sheep, of
which vast numbers have, in every known period, occupied
the pastures. Whilst the dry ness of the air, the moderate
elevation of the land, and consequent mildness of the climate,
are all eminently favourable to the rearing of a race4 of I><>\\ n
or Mountain Sheep, the contact of the cultivated country
alVords the means of supplying artificial food in due quantity.
It is this combination of favourable circumstances which has
rendered these calcareous hills capable of Supporting a
greater number of Sheep than perhaps any tract of similar
fertility in the country, and has afforded the means to the
breeders of applying the resources of artificial feeding to
their improvement. The original breed of the Sussex Downs
was not superior to that of many other districts of the Chalk-
formation ; but the means of supplying the animals with arti-
ficial food, which tl raphical situation of this long and
narrow chain of hills in contact with the richer country
afforded, aided the breeders in applying to the improvement of
I he race a system of breeding and feeding, which has ren-
dered the South Down Urccd the most esteemed in the
countries suited to it of all the Short -woolled Sheep of Mug-
land.

The native breed of the South Down hills was of the
smaller kinds of Sheep, with light fore-quarters, narrow
diesis, long necks, and long, though not coarse, limbs. The
\vool was short, tine, and curling, although not equalling in

rur soi ni . i> u ;

ih'i .1 horillo-.

Ot' tho \\OStoril I'OWltios, uor ON 011 thai

s ol' thv' ohtor tOTtttl aiul romi

ostitnto i . .it k-aM up I .'(' \\ hu-h \NO

ha\o A. ablo (hat tho ohk

pottos . ••. : .. • N .. .. : . iimo

knul ot ooiui(r\ I'ho taoos aiul hul^s^^l-l^< iv>\v-t\\l \\i(h

t'l.u . .1 (ruili'iuN i'\isU'il in (hv- v'Mi.u- (\scic iv .r>

;<> flu- s.i

UTU N.uitli I\'\N u i;i\\',l is t« ,«t horns m

tlu» in.i'., , ,- aiul L >lu-'u\ -rax .

(lu- IHM\ i-K»M«l> ,v\ c\\\\ \\ ith slu-rl .iiul , iirhu-: >> ot»l

N\ Ink- (lu- -vMu-r.il UM-MI ,'(' (lu- oKK-r luvt'vl li.is lu-.-u JMV^I > ,•,!,

tllO tOO great li^'hliu .-- ol llu- f\>t\- ^ii.iru-rs h.is kvn ,

rt'v-toil, tho ohost lins boon \\iiloiuul, (lio baok aiul loins h.-i\o

luvonio broiiilor, uiul (ho ribs im»ro i-ui'NOil; aiul (lio trunk

UIOIV S\ » .il aiul i-oiup.u ( riio

lunbs h:i\o boooino UUM\- slu>rt \\itli to (lu- h

in otluT \\.M\U. du- boil\ h.r. ..>• \\iili rotation

bo UM iitni's rtu- uook r«tfdik» the Mrohed ftM-ni vii.u-aott>rw-

't (lu- oklor rai-o, but has luviMilo l\li»iv slu-r( 1
oi>nios uoll l'on\ju\l iiju-n (lu- t'aoo. aiul ConniiuKoN in a (uii
UU I ho torohoail I'ho Mllmal aro ihvilo in oinp«M-.s.

aiul snitk-il U) ili*' 1; ^ Q! th»' I'^I'l. ^ hu-h ta y^t geitt*

ra!l\ pm-Mioil in (hv I lu-\ aro oapablo ol Mil

on (lu- slioi-t horba:;<- »•{' (lu .,1 v u-kl

\vhiehlwsiil\Yji\sboonhohliii - I.KUMI I'lu-

ai-o usually tallonoil at(oi haMi.- l-oaiploto»l llioir

>oar .ililuui.'h nulnuluaU ol snpoi UM (k , Ls aro otlon .va,l\

at (ho a-o ot about liltoi-u month* , N> lu

I ho ohlor bivml v>oro rarolx Uilk-^l until tlio\ hail ooinplotoiJ

thoir think o, jimvoil ai their fourth yoar

It is to (ho otVoots o! oar.-t'ul oulturo mulor t'a\ourablo oir
onmstanoos, that tho m.uk-rn hivtnl ot' (lu- South lK-\\

- i iorit\ NN hu-h u has !io»iuuvtl o\or all du- ol n i

\\oolk\l MUVJ. ol tho uiullatul aiul southorn lountu-s (.| I .

164 THE SHEEP.

land. With the advancement of tillage, and the larger pro-
duction of turnips and other succulent plants, the breeders of
Sussex had the means of treating their animals well while
advancing to maturity ; while increased attention was given
to the selection of the breeding parents, and to the conse-
quent calling forth of those properties of form which evince
the tendency to arrive at early maturity of muscle and fat-
ness. The improvement of the South Down Breed began
about the period of the American war, but it received its
chief impulse with the commencement of the contest with
the French Republic, and has continued progressive until
the present time. Amongst the individuals most distinguished
as the improvers of this breed, was the late John Ellman.
This gentleman began his important experiments about the
year 1780, when he acquired possession of the farm of Glynde,
near Lewis, in the county of Sussex. He remained in this
farm more than fifty years, during which period he directed
his attention, in an especial degree, to the improvement of
the native Sheep of the Downs. He pursued his system of
progressive change with judgment, perseverance, and zeal ;
and he must be regarded as one of the most skilful and suc-
cessful breeders whom this country has produced. He dis-
played none of the too narrow selfishness which, it is to be
regretted, appeared in the proceedings of his distinguished
contemporary Mr Bakewell. He freely communicated the
details of his valuable practice, and shewed himself to be
entirely exempt from illiberal prejudices. He did not ex-
perience the necessity of creating, as it were, a breed, but
was contented to adopt the basis which was afforded him in
the one already naturalized in the Sussex Downs. He did
not carry any of his principles of breeding to an extreme, but
acted under the guidance of temperance and judgment. He
sought for the properties of health and soundness of constitu-
tion, as well as for those of external form, and facility of
fattening ; and therefore he did not, like Bakewell, confine
himself rigidly to the blood of his own stock, but resorted to

THE SOUTH DOWN BREED. 165

others, that he might infuse fresh vigour into his flocks, and
prevent them from becoming too delicate. His aim, in short,
was the really useful ; and, though he reaped the due reward
of his enterprise and skill, it was never obtained by arts of
any kind, by deception, or useless ostentation. His charac-
ter throughout was one of sincerity and manly simplicity ;
and it is pleasing to add, that he closed a long and honour-
able life, respected and regretted by all that came under the
influence of his social virtues. He died in 1832, having
entered into his eightieth year.

Contemporaries and successors of Mr Ellman have pursued,
with deserved success, the cultivation of the South Down
Breed, which may now be said to be brought to all the per-
fection, with respect to early maturity and fattening power,
of which it seems to be susceptible. The system of selling
and hiring out rams was early adopted, and is now exten-
sively pursued by eminent breeders, who devote attention to
the rearing of rams as an especial branch of their profession.
This is a division of labour highly conducive to the perfecting
of the breed, and the extending of it in its state of purity and
highest cultivation to different parts of the country. But the
breeders of rams naturally rear the animals, under favourable
circumstances with respect to the supplies of food ; and thus
a tendency is produced to an enlargement of size beyond that
characteristic of a breed suited to a district of downs and
short herbage. The appropriate localities of the South Down
Breed are those which are suited to the lighter kinds of
Sheep. To the richer and moister plains are adapted other
breeds, which produce a long and heavy fleece, and are the
native inhabitants of districts of abundant herbage. Such
are the Leicester, and other varieties of Long-woolled Sheep,
to be afterwards described. Doubtless, the South Down
Breed may. by the stimulus of artificial food, and by being
naturalized in a country fertile in grasses, become as large
as the Leicester and other Long-woolled breeds of the plains ;
and it has been long making progress to this condition in the

166 THE SHEEP,

hands of the principal Sussex breeders. But the change is
one which, in proportion as it may adapt the breed to a richer
country, may render it less suited to those more dry and
steril tracts over which it has been spread, and in which
hardiness and soundness of constitution, and the capacity of
subsisting on scanty food, are properties to be regarded as
much as the disposition to arrive at early maturity and fatten
quickly. Nevertheless, the past efforts of the Sussex breeders
to improve the breed, by rearing it in a more artificial con-
dition than is suited to it, have hitherto been eminently suc-
cessful in rendering it of more economical value. The earlier
improvers of this breed paid especial attention to the fineness
of the wool, which then bore a high price for the purposes of
the clothier ; but attention having been insensibly directed to
other properties, the staple of the wool became longer, and
the filaments less fine, and now, by changes in the demand,
from causes before adverted to, the relative value of this
kind of wool greatly declined ; and, in the cultivation of the
breed, the production of fine and delicate wool is everywhere
regarded as secondary to the properties of form, and the
value of the animals for food.

The South Down Breed has spread over a great tract of
country, and either superseded the pre-existing varieties, or
been so mingled with them in blood, as to have modified all
their characters. But it is in an especial degree in the
countries of the chalk-formation, that it has been generally
established. It has superseded the ancient breeds of Berk-
shire, Hampshire, and Wiltshire ; and, extending into the
counties to the westward, has greatly circumscribed the
limits of the horned Dorsets. It has spread from the wastes of
Surrey to the heaths of Norfolk, displacing the ancient breeds,
or mixing with them, so as to obliterate their former distinc-
tions. It has been carried beyond the countries of the chalk-
formation, although in decreasing numbers. It has extended
into Herefordshire, and partially into Devonshire and the
lower parts of Wales, and northwards even to Westmoreland

THE SOUTH DOWN BREED. 167

and Cumberland. But, beyond the limits of the countries of
the true chalk, or of the calcareous district in contact with
the chalk, it is only found occupying tracts of narrow extent,
or is employed as a means of improving the flocks of the
heaths, commons, or .other tracts which are still occupied by
races of smaller Short-woolled Sheep. It has been introduced
into Scotland, and partially cultivated with some success ;
but it has made no general progress in that country, and does
not seem calculated to displace the hardier mountain breeds
already acclimated.

The wide extension of a breed so greatly improved as the
South Down, must be regarded as having been in a singular
degree beneficial. Although itself the native of a dry coun-
try, and therefore, it may be supposed, imperfectly suited to
a humid soil and atmosphere, yet its range is not confined to
very narrow limits. It is naturally of a healthy constitution,
patient of scanty herbage, and, from the closeness of its
fleece, fitted to resist changes of temperature. Further, like
every other race of Sheep, it possesses the faculty of becom-
ing inured to new conditions of soil and temperature ; and
experience, accordingly, has shewn, that it may be gradually
naturalized in countries very different from that from which
it has been derived. By crossing, it can be readily amalga-
mated with all the varieties of Sheep which can be referred
to the Black-faced Heath Breed as their type ; and it can be
made to improve the Black-faced Heath Breed itself, in situa-
tions in which hardiness, and adaptation to a rude climate and
country, are not more to be regarded than the improvement
of the form and fleece.

The wool of the South Down Sheep weighs, when washed,
about 3 Ib. the fleece ; but, in some of the more highly-fed
flocks of the lower countries, its weight is now 4 Ib. or more.
The staple, or length of the filaments, is from 2| to 4 inches,
while that of the older breed rarely exceeded 2 inches, and
more frequently fell short of that length. The wool, although
fine and short, is somewhat harsh and brittle, and never was

168 THE SHEEP.

well fitted for the manufacture of the finer woollen cloths,
requiring always a large admixture of the softer wools of
home or foreign growth. But the war with France having
at length excluded the manufacturers of England from most
of the foreign markets which supplied the raw material, the
woollen fabrics of the country were chiefly prepared from na-
tive wool. This circumstance gave a high relative value, not
only to the South Down wool, but to all the finer and shorter
kinds produced in the country, as that of the Norfolk, the
Wiltshire, the Dorset, the Ryeland, the Cheviot, and the
other varieties of Short-woolled Sheep which then abounded
in the country. But, when the memorable events of 1814
opened all the ancient marts of trade, wool of superior fine'?
ness was obtained, in the quantity required, from the counr
tries of Europe in which the Merino race was cultivated, and,
after a time, from the boundless wilds of the Australian colo-
nies. This produced an immediate change in the market-
price of all the finer wools formerly employed in the manu-
facture of woollen cloth, and at length caused them to be
applied to other purposes. In place of being used for the
manufacture of woollen cloth, they were extensively employed
for the lighter and looser fabrics classed under the name of
Worsteds. This difference in the destination of the shorter
wools, coupled with the diminution of the market-price, has
produced an important change in the cultivation of Sheep in
this country. It has led to an extension in the number of
the Long-woolled Sheep, and a decrease in the number of
those cultivated for the fineness of their wool ; and, in the
case of the latter, has caused attention to be directed rather
to the weight of the fleece, than to those properties which fit
it for the manufacture of cloth. All the lesser kinds of
Sheep, as the Ryeland, Morfe Common, and Dean Forest
breeds, producing a fine and delicate wool, are either extinct,
or have lost their distinctive characters by intermixture with
other races ; and, throughout entire tracts of country, which,
not more than twenty-five years ago, were occupied by Short-

THE OLD LINCOLN BREED. 169

woolled Sheep, not a single flock of this kind is to be found.
The South Down Breed, it has been seen, has been exten-
sively substituted for many of the older breeds ; but the
Long-woolled Sheep of the lower country have likewise been
progressively extending, and have either displaced the Short-
woolled varieties altogether, or, by means of crossing, changed
their character with respect to the production of wool.

XVII. —THE OLD LINCOLN BREED,

The breeds of Sheep hitherto described are proper to the
mountains, moors, downs, and less cultivated districts, and
most of them produce a short wool fitted for preparation by
the card. The breeds that remain to be described are of
entirely different characters, with respect to form and the
nature of the fleece. They are of large size, arid, until im-
proved by art, of coarse form ; and the wool which they
yield is long, thick, and tough in the filaments, of inferior
felting properties, but tolerably soft to the touch, and rarely
approaching to the harsh and wiry character of hair. This
kind of wool, from the strength and toughness of its fibres,
is unsuited for being broken into fragments by the action of
the card, and is, accordingly, never prepared except for
worsted yarn, and by the assorting of the comb. If the
British Islands are inferior to other countries in the produc-
tion of the finer felting wools, they are superior to any in
the case of those adapted to the worsted manufacture. The
long wools of the plains of England have in every known
period been of the highest estimation. They were early
carried to other countries, and now produce fabrics which
are diffused throughout the markets of the world.

The Long-woolled Sheep of England are the natives of the
richer plains, although they have long been carried to all
parts of the country where agriculture has provided the
means of supplying artificial food. The first and most ex-

1 70 THE SHEEP.

tensive locality of this class of Sheep is the fine tract of new
red sandstone which, extending southward from the lower
valley of the Tees, forms the fertile valleys of York and
Trent ; and which, extending from the vale of Trent to the
mouth of the Severn, and thence northwards, includes the
greater part of the counties of Nottingham, Leicester, War-
wick, Worcester, and a part of Stafford and Lancaster; com-
prehending a tract of the highest fertility with respect to the
production of the grasses and other herbage plants. But
connected with this tract, as a locality of the Long-woolled
Sheep, are districts of the lias and oolite formations, com-
prehending the counties of Rutland, Northampton, Glouces-
ter, part of Oxford, and others, to which may be added the
lower parts of Devonshire, and the valleys of the larger
rivers in different parts of the country. The second locality
of the Long-woolled Sheep comprehends the flat alluvial
tracts of fens on the eastern coasts and the shores of Kent.
Conformably to this division, the Long-woolled Sheep may
be arranged in two general groups ; first, those of the inland
plains, represented by the Teeswater, Leicester, and other
varieties ; and, secondly, those of the fens and alluvial coun-
try, represented by the breeds of Lincolnshire and Romney
Marsh.

Of the breeds which have been mentioned, those of the
marshes and fens are the most marked and peculiar in their
characters. The rich and marshy tract of land, extending
from the Humber southwards, through Lincolnshire into
Norfolk, Cambridge, and the adj oining country, is a fitting
habitation for the coarser and heavier kinds of Sheep. The
lower part of Lincolnshire, accordingly, and the fertile tracts
in connexion with it, are inhabited by a race remarkable, be-
yond any other, for their size, their coarse and massy forms,
and the length of their wool. The type of these breeds has
been termed the Old Lincoln, which requires, however, to
be distinguished from the race of mixed lineage which now
inhabits the same country.

THE OLD LINCOLN BREED. 171

The Old Lincoln Sheep, of which the remnants now only
exist, are destitute of horns, are of coarse form, have large
limbs and hoofs, hollow flanks, and flat sides. Their long
unctuous wool almost hangs to the ground, and they have a
large tuft on the forehead. Their fleece weighs from 10 to
12 lb., and, in the rams and fattened wethers, often greatly
exceeds this weight. They fatten slowly, and consume much
food, but are valued by the butchers for their tendency to
produce internal fat. About seventy years ago, when the
New Leicester, or Dishley breed of Bake well, became dis-
tinguished, the Lincolnshire breeders resorted to this stock
as a means of communicating to their own the property of
early fattening, for which the new breed was eminent. This
system of crossing was carried on until the close of the last
century, and has been continued up to the present time, so
that the old breed is scarcely any where to be found of un-
mixed blood. The figure given in my larger work is taken
from a flock which has been maintained perfectly pure from
a period previous to that in which the Dishley blood was in-
troduced. The worthy owner, amidst all the changes of the
times, has continued to maintain the stock which his fore-
fathers had cultivated. By the continued breeding from the
same blood, this particular flock has doubtless suffered de-
terioration ; but it retains all the essential characters of the
ancient race, and presents, perhaps, the only living example
of the most remarkable breed of Sheep which the British
Islands have produced.

The crossing of the Old Lincoln with the Dishley blood, was
not at first effected without great opposition, and a contest
arose between the supporters of the ancient breed and the
new, which lasted for more than a quarter of a century. The
advocates of the older breed contended for its greater hardi-
ness, its better adaptation to the rich pastures of the country,
the enormous weight to which individuals could be raised,
and, above all, their unrivalled fleece. On the other hand,
the earlier maturity, and the greater aptitude to fatten, of the

172 THE SHEEP.

new breed, were considerations urged by those who favoured
the system of crossing which had been resorted to ; and it
was contended, that, although the weight of individual fleeces
was diminished, the value of wool produced on the acre was
increased, from the greater number of animals that could be
maintained on the same space.*

* A correspondence on this subject, in the year 1788, has been preserved,
between Mr Chaplin, a distinguished breeder of the Old Lincolns, and Mr
Bakewell of Dishley, which is curious, as shewing the angry feelings of the
time, and bringing before us, and in his own words, one so distinguished for
what he has done, and so little known by any thing he has written, — Mr Bake-
well. It had been proposed, it seems, that a show of rams should take place at
Partney, for the purpose of comparing together the old and new breeds. Mr
Bakewell had declined allowing his rams to be seen until they were sorted, as
it is termed, but appears to have thought that there would be no great harm
in taking a peep at his rival's, even in their state of disorder. Mr Chaplin re-
senting the proceeding, thus addresses his wily opponent : — " The extraordinary
art made use of in the exhibition of your stock at Dishley, points out, in the
strongest manner, the impropriety of shewing it in a disorderly state ; and after
my refusal on the 21st instant to let you see my sheep before they were collected
and sorted at home, I did not expect to hear of your meanly sneaking into my
pastures at Wrangle, on the 24th, with two other people, driving my sheep
into the fold, and examining them. Such unwarrantable conduct can only be
accounted for by your great anxiety about the show of rams at Partney, near
Spilsby, on the 18th of September, which was proposed for the purpose of mak-
ing the comparison between those bred from your sheep and the original breed
of the county. The small sheep that have no cross of the Durham kind, which
you have had the address to impose upon the world, without size, without
length, and without wool, I have always held to be unprofitable animals ; but
that I may not appear to be too tenacious of my own opinion, I hope you will
produce them at Partney, on the 18th September next, to meet the Lincoln-
shire sheep, where there will be many better judges than ourselves to decide on
their merits."

The reply is characteristic. " On my return home on Tuesday last, I saw
your letter addressed to me of the 26th of August, in the Liecester paper of
the 6th instant, in which you are pleased to notice the extraordinary art made
use of in the exhibition of the stock at Dishley ; which you have seen at several
different times. Surely you cannot say you have observed any unfair practices,
or that you was ever denied seeing what was not engaged for the season, on
account of their not being sorted, or being in a disorderly state. At Ilorncastle,
on Thursday the 21st of August, I asked you if I might see your rams near
Saltfleet. You did not say I should not, but that they were not sorted, and that
when they were you would be glad to see me at Tathwell. I did not go to
Saltfleet, but into the marshes, near Skegness ; and from thence, on the Satur-
day afternoon following, to Wrangle ; the next day, Sunday the 24th, to Free-
ston, where 1 met with two graziers, with whom 1 had not any acquaintance
till that day. They proposed on Monday to go to Skegness, and asked me if I

THE OLD LINCOLN BREED. 173

The claims of the modern breed in the end prevailed, and
the remarkable old race of the fens was by degrees displaced,
or mixed largely in blood with the new variety. The breeders
of Lincolnshire doubtless consulted their immediate interests,
in availing themselves of the improved stock of Bakewell, to
give at once those qualities to their own in which it was defi-
cient ; but at the same time, great regret may now be enter-
tained, that the native breed had not rather been improved
by an application of the principle of selection, than destroyed
in its distinctive characters by indiscriminate crossing. The
wool of the true Old Lincoln breed was altogether peculiar,
and such as no country in Europe produced. That of the

thought they could see your rams. I told them I was informed on my way to
and at Wrangle, that they might. We set forward together, and called at the
inn at Wrangle, which I came from the day before, and there passed what you
are pleased to term, my ' meanly sneaking into your pastures on the 24th.'
We asked a young man if you had any rams there ; he informed us you had.
' Where are they ? ' 'In the close next the house.' ' May we see them ?' 'Yes.'
4 Who would shew them ?' 'I will.' From which we supposed he had fre-
quently shewn them to others. We then alighted and went into the close ; he
opened the pen-gate, and we assisted him in driving them in, about fourteen
in number. The age or breed of any of them I do not know. From thence
we went to the person who has the care of your rams, about a mile and a-half
nearer Skegness, and asked if we could see them ; he refused us, saying he had
received orders by a letter from you not to shew them to any one. He was then
asked if they had not been shewn before. He answered they had. ' When did
he receive the order not to shew them ?' 'On Saturday night last.' Had we
known this before, we should not have been guilty of what you term ' such un-
warrantable conduct.' I have long made it a rule not to find fault with another
person's stock. Why should you be so severe upon mine ? And I now take
the liberty of requesting you to explain what you mean ' by sheep without size,
without length, and without wool,' which you say I have had the address to
impose upon the world ; and of informing you that I am fully persuaded there
are ten rams without a cross of the Durham, or any other kind, let for a thou-
sand guineas more this season than the same number of the ' true Old Lincoln-
shire breed, of the long staple,' some of these at the highest prices, into the
counties of Lincoln and Nottingham ; and to breeders, many of whom have
used the Dishley sort of sheep for upwards of twenty years, and who have agreed
for some, and offer higher prices for others, for future seasons, than they have
yet given, and may surely be supposed capable of knowing the value of what
' you have always held to be unprofitable animals.' Did they not find their
interest in so doing, would they persevere ? The address must be extraordi-
nary, indeed, that could impose upon them against their interest and so
experience,"

174 THE SHEEP.

New Leicester breed is shorter and finer; but it wants the
toughness, softness, and length of fibre which distinguish
the other, and which, could it now be obtained, could be used
with great advantage in various worsted manufactures. It
cannot be doubted, that the same principles of breeding which
enabled Mr Bakewell to form a new breed, could have been
applied by the Lincolnshire breeders to remove the defects of
the native race, and call forth its useful properties.

But although the Old Lincoln breed is now almost extinct
in the pure state, the breed of mixed lineage which has suc-
ceeded to it in the countries of the fens often retains much
of its peculiarities. In this rich district are yet to be found
the largest sheep of the Island, and, it is believed, of Europe,
with fleeces superior in weight and value to any other. They
do not fatten so quickly as the New Leicesters, but they
arrive at great weight, and pay the graziers well, on the fer-
tile pastures which are proper to them. The wethers are fre-
quently killed at the enormous weight of 50 or 60 Ib. the
quarter. Great numbers of these large sheep may be seen
pasturing on the rich flats on the Thames, for the supply of
the London market. The mutton may not be sufficiently de-
licate for the palates of the opulent, but for the supplies of
the numerous population of labourers in our large cities, who
are contented with wholesome, nourishing, and cheap food, the
mutton of the countries of the fens is as much valued as any
other in the kingdom. It is of national as well as of private
concern, therefore, that the modern Lincoln breed should be
preserved; and he would merit well of the country who should
devote attention to its improvement.

XVIIL— THE ROMNEY MARSH BREED.

The Sheep of these Islands, it has been seen, may be di-
vided into two general classes : 1. The smaller Sheep, inha-
biting the mountains, moors, downs, and less fertile tracts,

THE KOMSEY .MARSH BREED. !7-">

and producing, for the most part, short wool, fitted for pre-
paration by the card, arid the manufacture of cloths ; and,
2. The larger Sheep, naturalized in the plains, marshes, and
richer country, producing wool which is long in the filaments,
and adapted to the manufacture of stuffs termed worsted.
With the progress of cultivation, and the increased means of
supplying artificial food, the Long-woolled breeds have been
continually gaining in numbers upon the Short-woolled. They
may be divided into those which inhabit the fens and marshes,
and those which are found in the inland and drier country.
Of the former class, greatly the most numerous and remark-
able was the Old Lincolnshire Breed already described, of
which the remnants only now exist in the unmixed state.
Another variety of the same class inhabited a limited tract
of low ground termed Romney Marsh, situated on the south-
ern coast of Kent, at the western entrance to the Straits of
Dover.

Romney Marsh is a plain of alluvial land nearly on the
level of the sea, protected from the tides by dykes in the
manner of the marshy flats of Holland. It extends from
Hythe to the river Rother, about fourteen miles ; and, at its
broadest part, from Dengeness to Appledore, ten miles. It
is divided into four districts — namely, Romney Marsh Pro-
per, which is the largest and most westerly division ; Wai-
land Marsh, the next adjoining to the westward ; Denge
Marsh, with South-Brooks on the south, and Gtiildford Marsh,
the greater part of which is in the county of Sussex, on the
west. This tract was known to the Anglo-Saxons \>y the
name of Merseware or Mersewarum, and the inhabitants
were designated by a term signifying marsh-men or fen-men.
It was early fenced from the overflowings of the sea, and the
conservation of the dykes and drainage was provided for by
local laws and observances, which, so long ago as the reign
of Henry III., were denominated ancient and approved cus-
toms. The land consists in part of infertile sand, gravel, or
peat, but essentially of a deep rich alluvial clay, bearing the'

176 THE SHEEP.

grasses and other herbage plants abundantly, and never
having been subjected to the action of the plough. " It ys,f>
says Leland, " a marvelous rank ground for fedying catel,
b}' the reason that the grasse groweth plentifully upon the
wose, sum tyme cast up there by the se." The land is sub-
divided by rails, and deep ditches filled with stagnant water.
There are scarcely any hedges or trees to afford shelter.
The roads are broad miry paths, rudely fenced off from the
marsh, and scarcely to be passed after heavy falls of rain.
The inhabitants are few in number, scattered over the flat
monotonous surface in mean hamlets or villages, and mostly
employed in tending the numerous Sheep by which the ground
is depastured. The air is humid from stagnant water, and
the wealthier possessors of the farms reside, not in the
marshes, but on the more elevated grounds surrounding
them ; and the animals which are reared or fattened on the
marsh, depend on the natural herbage which it produces.
The principal produce is Sheep, which are reared in greater
numbers than in any similar space in the kingdom.

The ancient native Sheep of this district had coarse heads,
furnished with a tuft of wool ; thick necks, long stout limbs,
broad feet, narrow chests, flat sides, and great bellies. They
were of the larger class of Sheep, but yet fell short in weight
of the heavy-woolled Sheep of the eastern counties. The
wool weighed 7 lb. or 8 lb., had the usual qualities of long
wool, was moderately soft, but unequal, and coarse on the
posterior parts. These Sheep were slow in fattening, the
wethers being rarely fit for use until they had completed
their third year; but yet they were favourites with the butch-
ers, from their yielding a large proportion of internal fat and
offal. They bore well the exposed maritime situation in
which they were placed, and acquired the habit of avoiding
the dangerous ditches by which the country is intersected.

The modern breed of Romney Marsh, which has extended
into other parts of Kent, still exhibits much of the charac-
ters of the ancient family, the individuals being, for the

THE ROMNEY MARSH BREED. 177

most part, long-legged, flat-sided, and coarse in the extre-
mities. But a surprising change has taken place within
the present century, and there now exist entire flocks, which
cannot he recognised as the descendants of the older race.
This change has arisen in part from intermixture of the New
Leicester blood, and in part from the increased attention of
breeders to the form and qualities of the animals.

The Leicester Breed found its way into these marshes
more slowly than into most other parts of the kingdom, and
violent prejudices, not yet subdued, for a time resisted its
reception. But about the beginning of the present century,
a general desire began to manifest itself amongst the more
enlightened breeders, to avail themselves of the means of
improvement which a breed so highly cultivated as the New
Leicester presented to them ; and great numbers of rams
from the midland counties were accordingly introduced by
individual breeders. The effects were soon apparent, even
in the flocks of those who were the most opposed to the
foreign breed ; and it may be doubted if there now exists a
single long-woolled Sheep in the county of Kent, in which
the influence of the New Leicester blood does not appear.
The first effect of the crossing was to reduce the bulk of the
native Sheep, but to give them a greater symmetry of parts
and tendency to fatten ; and, independently of the effects,
direct and indirect, of the mixture, the placing of superior
models before the eyes of breeders, produced a beneficial
result throughout the whole district, so that more attention
was from this period bestowed on improving the native stock
by selection. After a time, indeed, the feeling in favour of
the older race began to revive ; and, for a considerable period
past, the Romney Marsh breeders have, with few exceptions,
continued to breed from the indigenous stock. Nevertheless,
the effects of the change produced by the former crossing
remained, and the modern Sheep of the marsh, although
still retaining a greater degree of coarseness and lankness
of body than can be approved of, form a very different race

178 THE SHEEP.

of animals from the Kentish Sheep of the beginning of the
present century.

The arguments used against the introduction of the more
cultivated breed were similar to those employed by the
breeders of the eastern marshes. It was argued, that the
decrease of size and deterioration of the fleece, were not
compensated by the earlier maturity, and greater tendency
to fatten, of the imported breed ; that the latter were less
saleable to the butchers, and that the ewes were less pro-
lific, and inferior as nurses. It was contended, besides, that
the new breed and its descendants were less suited than the
former to the open marshes on which they were to be reared
without shelter or artificial food ; and that they were apt to
be driven into the ditches by the strong gales which at cer-
tain seasons swept over the marsh. A satisfactory answer
can be given to the greater part of these objections. The
decrease of weight was, to a certain extent, more apparent
than real, arising from a diminution in the size of bone and
the coarser parts ; and there was always a more than cor-
responding gain, by the breeders being enabled to bring
their animals to market at an earlier period. The deprecia-
tion in the weight and quality of the wool was little in the
case of this breed ; the wool of the Romney Marsh Sheep
never having been in the first class, with respect either to
quality or productiveness. That the new breed was less ac-
ceptable to the butchers is true ; but this was because the
fat was more deposited on the external parts, and because
the offal was less. The interest of the butcher, it is to be
observed, corresponds only in certain points with that of the
breeder. The butcher prefers the animals that yield him
most profit from the parts sold in retail ; but he has no con-
cern with the quantity of food consumed by them, with the
period required for bringing them to maturity, or with the
details of management, which yield a profit to the owner.
The butchers, as a class, have rarely been the advocates of
those changes which have added so great a value ;to the live-

THE ROMNEY MARSH BREED. 179

stock of the country ; and, in the preference which they long
gave to the coarse sheep of Romney Marsh, their opinions
exercised a peculiarly injurious influence on the breeding of
Sheep in this part of England. The opinion frequently ex-
pressed, that the new breed is less productive of lambs than
the old, does not seem to be well founded. Generally, in-
deed, all the coarser varieties of sheep are better nurses, and
more prolific, than the more highly improved, under similar
treatment. But it does not appear that the Romney Marsh
Sheep were ever peculiarly noted for producing numerous
lambs, or for being good nurses. No sheep in this country
had so much difficulty in parturition, or were so apt to desert
their offspring, as the Romney Marsh ewes. With respect
to the averment, that the old breed was better suited than
the new to withstand the stormy climate of the marsh, and
preserve itself from the open ditches with which the country
is intersected, it is to be observed, that some truth, mixed
with more of error, exists in the statement. The New Lei-
cester Breed is reared with facility in situations greatly more
cold and exposed than the Romney Marsh, which possesses
as good a climate, with respect to temperature, as exists in
England. That the Romney Marsh Breed is better calcu-
lated to preserve itself from the accidents resulting from the
open ditches of the country than a breed naturalized in a dif-
ferent situation, may be admitted ; but the danger itself ought
to be provided against by suitable enclosing, and not used as
an argument against the cultivation of a superior breed. Fur-
ther, the fact, if it shall be admitted, that the one breed is bet-
ter fitted than the other to subsist without artificial food and
shelter, is no argument against the reception of the superior
breed, but a strong one in favour of a better system of ma-
nagement. There cannot be a doubt that the Sheep of the
Romney Marsh have been signally benefited by the blood of
the New Leicester race. The Romney Marsh breeders may
now please themselves by believing that their own breed is
superior to the imported one ; and no harm will result from

180 THE SHEEP.

the opinion, provided they discard their other prejudices, and
breed from the best of their own stock, and upon a suitable
model. The long and constant error of the Kentish breeders
was their looking to size more than to the other qualities in-
dicative of a good stock of Sheep. Size, indeed; is not to be
disregarded in any breed reared in a country of rich pastures ;
but that just conformation of parts, which indicates the dis-
position to arrive at early maturity and fatten readily, is yet
more to be regarded.

XIX.— THE OLDER LONG-WOOLLED BREEDS OF
THE INLAND DISTRICTS.

The Sheep of the marshes and fens are represented by the
Lincolnshire and Romney Marsh Breeds already described.
Minor varieties of the same breeds existed in detached allu-
vial tracts along the coasts ; but they were confined to nar-
row localities, and have now all merged in the races of the
adjoining districts. The other class of breeds consists of those
which have been naturalized in the valleys, plains, and richer
tracts of the inland parts. The great district of these breeds
is the rich tract of the new red sandstone, which, commencing
with the country of the Tees, extends southward by the Vales
of York and Trent to the lower valley of the Severn, and
thence again northward ; although, it is to be observed, that
it is chiefly in the eastern and midland counties that these
breeds are found, and that, as we approach to the western
limits of the new red sandstone in the north of Staffordshire,
Cheshire, and Lancashire, the long-woolled breeds are in
smaller numbers, and mixed with, or allied to, the ancient
breeds of the forests, wastes, and chases.

The most remarkable of the inland breeds was the Old
Teeswater, so named from the valley of the beautiful river
which separates the counties of York and Durham. This
valley is exceedingly fertile, though of limited extent ; but
the breed to which it gave a name extended, with some

THE OLDER LONG-WOOLLED BREEDS. 181

change of characters, northward into Durham, and south-
ward through the greater part of Yorkshire, until it merged
in the heavy-woolled Sheep of the marshes on the one hand,
and those of Leicestershire and the other midland counties
on the other. The true Teeswater Sheep, as reared in their
native valley, were of the larger class, very tall, bearing a
long but not a very thick fleece, inferior only in toughness
and length of filaments to that of the ancient Lincolns. The
wool was, however, more hard, less uniform in the staple,
and very coarse towards the extremities. These Sheep were
of an exceedingly uncouth form. They had coarse heads, large
round haunches, and long stout limbs. They were slow in
fattening, and required for their support good pastures, with
a supply of hay and corn. They were the most prolific of all
our races of Sheep, bearing usually two, and not unfrequently
three, lambs at a birth ; and they were surpassed by no other
Sheep in the faculty of yielding milk. This coarse and heavy
breed has now entirely disappeared in its original form. The
New Leicester Breed progressively extended northward
through the Vale of York, and at a still earlier period had
been established in Northumberland, by breeders, the con-
temporaries of Bakewell. Under these circumstances, the
older breed of the Tees soon gave place to the new breed of
the Midland Counties, either by substitution of the one for
the other, or by the effects of crossing. At the commence-
ment of the present century, a few individual Sheep only of
the older breed were to be found in the hands of some old
farmers, unwilling to relinquish preconceived opinions and
habits. At the present time, not one living example, perhaps,
remains of the true Old Teeswater Breed. The only traces
of it that present themselves are in the largeness of size of
the sheep of particular breeders, who have continued to pre-
fer a stock of larger sheep to the more modern variety of
higher breeding.

Proceeding southward, the Teeswater and its varieties
gradually merged in the former breeds of Leicestershire and

182 THE SHEEP.

the adjoining counties. These latter varieties were smaller
than the true Teeswater, but of figures equally ungainly.
They had coarse heads, thick hides, and long lank bodies ;
and, corresponding with the defects of their external form,
was their slowness in fattening and arriving at the required
maturity. A Earn of the Warwickshire variety is described
by Mr Marshall as having " a frame large and remarkably
loose, his bone heavy, his legs long and thick, terminating in
great splaw feet, his chine, as well as his rump, sharp as a
hatchet, his skin rattling on his ribs." The wool of these
sheep varied with the locality, but generally it was inferior
in weight, shorter in the staple, and more slender in the fila-
ments, than that of the genuine Teeswater. All these varie-
ties of sheep have disappeared, so that not a living example
of them is to be found ; and their place has been long taken
by the beautiful breed, to which reference has been so fre-
quently made, and of which more especial notice will be
taken in the sequel.

In the western counties, from the southern division of
Staffordshire northward to the Solway Firth, the long-woolled
varieties were rare, and found only in a few places. They
were all of the coarsest kinds of sheep, and inferior in weight
of body to those of the eastern and midland counties. Some
of them lingered until a recent period in the lower parts of
Westmoreland and Cumberland, and some of them extended
across the Solway into the west of Scotland. They have
now all disappeared, or left only indistinct traces of their for-
mer existence in the flocks of a few careless Sheep-masters.
It is not known whether Scotland originally possessed a na-
tive race of Long-woolled Sheep ; but sheep of this kind were
early in the last century introduced into the south-eastern
border counties, and, about the time of the American war,
were largely mixed in blood with the improved New Leicester.

Another district of Long-woolled Sheep is found in England
just beyond the tract of the lias and oolite limestone, in the
counties of Devon and Somerset. One variety of them in-

THE OLDER LONG-WOOLLED BREEDS. 183

habited the southern part of Devonshire from the Vale of
Honiton westward, and another was found more to the north
stretching to the river Parret in Somersetshire. The first
of these varieties, termed Southam Notts, had brown faces
and legs, crooked limbs, and flat sides. They carried a fleece
of long wool, moderately soft, weighing from 9 Ib. to 10 lb.,
and at 30 months old the wethers weighed from 22 lb. to
25 lb. the quarter. The other variety was termed Bampton
Notts, from the village of that name on the confines of the
counties of Devon and Somerset. They had white faces,
bore a very weighty fleece of long wool, and weighed at two
years old from 30 lb. to 35 lb. the quarter. These breeds
have been largely crossed with the New Leicester, and may
be said to be now extinct in their pure state. The first mix-
ture of blood produced at once animals greatly superior to
the older race. The defect of these sheep was their clumsy
forms and thick hides, and consequent indisposition to fatten.
These faults have been entirely corrected by the crossing
that has taken place, although this was more tardily carried
into effect in Devonshire than in any other part of England :
and, on the basis of the older breeds, has been formed a very
fine race of sheep, diminished in bulk of body from the ori-
ginal Bamptons, but still amongst the largest sheep in the
kingdom. Thus a wether of mixed blood, killed in 1835, had
arrived at the prodigious weight of 70 lb. the quarter ; and one
lately living in the neighbourhood of Exeter weighed 430 lb.
live weight. The breeders of Devonshire take a just pride
in their newly-formed breed, but do not seem disposed to
reduce the size to the standard approved of by the Leicester

breeders.

•

XX.— THE LONG-WOOLLED BREEDS OF IRELAND.

Ireland, from the fertility of the soil, the humidity of the cli-
mate, and the mildness of the winters, is well suited for the
rearing of Sheep of the larger kind; and Sheep appear, in every

184 THE SHEEP.

known period, to have existed in numbers throughout the
country. They consisted partly of Short-woolled breeds, to
which reference has been already made, and partly of a Long-
woolled race, which extended with pretty uniform characters
over the greater part of the level country. This latter race was
of large size, and of a form peculiarly coarse and unthrifty.
They are described by Mr Culley as they were seen by him at
the fair of Ballinasloe, in the latter part of last century,
thus : — " I am sorry to say I never saw such ill-formed
ugly sheep as these : the worst breeds we have in Great
Britain are much superior. One would almost imagine
that the sheep-breeders in Ireland have taken as much
pains to breed plain awkward sheep, as many of the people
in England have to breed handsome ones. I know nothing
to recommend them except their size, which might please
some old-fashioned breeders, who can get no kind of stock
large enough. But I will endeavour to describe them,
and leave my readers to judge for themselves. These
sheep are supported by long, thick, crooked, and gray legs ;
their heads long and ugly, with large flagging ears, gray faces,
and eyes sunk, necks long, and set on below the shoulders ;
breasts narrow and short, hollow before and behind the
shoulders ; flat- sided, with high narrow herring backs ; hind
quarters drooping, and tail set low. In short, they are al-
most in every respect contrary to what I apprehend a well-
formed sheep should be." * Of the fidelity of this description
no doubt can be entertained, although the change that has
since taken place is so great as to leave little likeness of the
former picture. There yet remain, indeed, some of the dis-
tinctive characters of the older family, — the large heads, the
flat sides., the narrow breasts ; but all that excessive ugliness
of form which placed the Irish below the worst breeds of
England, may be said to have disappeared. This has been
the result of crossing with the New Leicester Breed, which
began about the time Mr Culley wrote, and has been con-

* Culley on Live Stock.

THE LONG-WOOLLED BREEDS OF IRELAND. 185

tinned since with such success that it is now difficult to find
an individual of the unmixed race in the whole country.
Many of the wealthier breeders acquired at once flocks of the
pure New Leicester Breed ; but the main effect was produced
by crossing, which everywhere took place with a rapidity
which may well be deemed remarkable in a country where
so defective a state of property exists, and where so many
obstacles counteract the natural course of improvement.

But the present Long-woolled Sheep of Ireland still want
much of the perfection at which they are capable of arriving.
They are yet, for the most part, too coarse in their general
form, narrow in the chest, and flat-sided. The wool is only of
medium quality and weight; and there is a sort of harshness
about it, which shews that the long wool of Ireland was never
of good quality. The breed is more valued by the butcher
in its present state than when more highly improved ; but
there is manifestly too great a proportion of waste for the
profit of the breeder, and it does not appear that the mutton
is superior to that of the New Leicesters. It is the fear of
many breeders in Ireland, that the system of crossing has
been carried too far, and that the Sheep of the country are
becoming too small. The same fear was entertained by the
owners of the Teeswater, the Romney Marsh, and other
Long-woolled Sheep of England, when the Leicester blood
was first introduced. But time allayed these misapprehen-
sions, at least to the extent to which they were at first ex-
cited ; and although, in many districts of England, the breeders
seem now disposed to resist the further change of their stock
by crossing, this was not until after a larger infusion of the
blood of the new breed than has yet taken place in the great
mass of the Long-woolled Sheep of Ireland, which certainly
cannot be said to have arrived at a degree of refinement in-
jurious to their useful qualities. They have still, for the most
part, too great length of limbs with relation to the depth of
carcass ; and their apparent bulk of body may yet be materially
lessened without diminution of the weight.

186 THE SHEEP.

XXI.— THE COTSWOLD BREED.

The Cotswold Breed of Sheep derives its name from a
tract of low calcareous hills in the eastern division of the
county of Gloucester, forming a part of the great Oolite for-
mation of England, which, commencing with the moorlands
of Yorkshire, stretches diagonally across the island, and loses
itself in the British Channel, near the Isle of Portland. The
Gloucester portion of this tract is of moderate elevation, com-
paratively infertile, yet capable of cultivation, and yielding
in the natural state a short sweet herbage. It was formerly
a range of bleak wastes, employed in the pasturage of Sheep,
and much of it was in the state of common ; but with the
progress of the last century, the commons were appropriated,
and cultivation was extended. It derives its name from Cote,
a sheep-fold, and Would, a naked hill. It was early noted
for the numbers of sheep which it maintained, and the fine-
ness and abundance of their wool. " In these woulds," says
the translator of Camden, " they feed in great numbers flockes
of sheep, long-necked and square of bulk and bone, by reason
(as is commonly thought) of the weally and hilly situation of
their pasturage, whose wool, being most fine and soft, is held
in passing great account amongst all nations." Other writers
refer to the excellence and abundance of the wool of the Cots-
wold Wolds. Drayton contrasts the rich fleeces of Cotswold
with those of the flocks of Sarum and Leominster, and gives the
palm to Cotswold for its more abundant produce.* The faith-
ful and laborious Stowe, in his Chronicles, states, that, in the
year 1464, King Edward IV. " concluded an amnesty and
league with King Henry of Castill, and John, King of Ara-
gon, at the concluding whereof, hee granted licence for cer-

* " T' whom Sarum's plaine gives place, though famous for its flocks ;
Yet hardly doth she tythe our Cotswolde's wealthy locks :
Though Lemster him exceed in finenesse of her ore,
Yet quite he puts her downe for his abundant store."

POLY-OLEION.

THE COTSWOLD BREED. 187

tain Coteswold Sheepe to be transported into the country of
Spaine, which have there since mightily increased and multi-
plied to the Spanish profit, as it is said." The worthy writer
is not so well satisfied as some of his countrymen, that the
Spaniards owed all their Sheep to England; for, adds he, "true
it is, that long ere this were Sheepe in Spaine, as may appear by
a patent of King Henry the Second, granting to the weavers
of London, that if any cloth were found to be made of Spanish
wool, mixed with English wool, the maior of London should see
it brent.55 Adam Speed, who wrote in 1629, describes the
wool of the Cotswold Sheep as similar to that of the Ryeland.
" In Herefordshire, especially about Lempster, and on those
famous hills called Cotswold Hills, sheep are fed that pro-
duce a singular good wool, which, for fineness, comes very
near to that of Spain, for from it a thread may be drawn as
fine as silk.'5 The precise character of the Sheep which pro-
duced this wool is now unknown. They were probably simi-
lar to the large fine-woolled breeds of the adjoining counties
of Wilts and Berks, a supposition which agrees with the
locality of the districts, and with " the long necks and square
of bulk and bone" ascribed to the Cotswold Sheep by Camden,
and explains the distinction of Drayton between the wealthy
locks of Cotswold, and the^ less abundant ore of Lemster.
Markham, indeed, a writer of the time of Elizabeth, speaks of
the Cotswold Sheep as having long wool, but this testimony
cannot weigh against the direct authority of Speed in a later
age ; and it may be believed, that the term long, as used by
Markham, is merely relative, as applied to the two kinds of
wool.

The Sheep, however, which now possess the same country,
and have inhabited it beyond the memory of the living gene-
ration, are a Long-woolled race, and thus entirely distinct
from the Sheep of the ancient forests, wolds, and downs, which
produced the former fine wool of England. They are of the
larger class of British Sheep, and all their characters denote
them to be a breed of the plains and richer country. The

188 THE SHEEP.

period of their introduction is unknown ; but it probably took
place pretty late in the last century, with the appropriation
of the commons, and the extension of tillage in a degree suf-
ficient to supply artificial food to a larger kind of animal. A
traditionary belief has always existed in the country, that
the modern race is not the original one of the Cotswold
Wolds ; but no intelligible account can be obtained from any
one now living of the time or manner of its introduction. It
was probably derived from the upper part of Oxfordshire, or
from Warwickshire, the ancient breed of which it seems in
some respects to have resembled ; and the change may have
been chiefly produced by crossing. Mr Marshall and some
intelligent writers, indeed, have believed that the Cotswold
Sheep have always been a Long-woolled breed, and have
cited, in support of this opinion, the absence of any information
to be obtained in the district itself regarding the supposed
change of breeds. But we know how quickly the memory of
such events is effaced, and that changes as great as that in
the Cotswold Sheep have occurred in all parts of the king-
dom, without our having the means of obtaining any account
of them after the lapse of a short period. It would be op-
posed to all that we know of the natural history of the Sheep,
to suppose that a tract of country so recently cultivated and
enclosed as the Cotswold Hills, could have maintained on its
natural herbage one of the largest races of Sheep in England,
and communicated to it the property of growing long wool.
Such a race, we must suppose, was indigenous to the plains,
and has merely taken the place of an older breed, in a man-
ner similar to that which has been continually occurring
during the last fifty years over a great part of the British
Islands.

But the Long-woolled Sheep of the Cotswold hills have
themselves undergone an important change within a period
comparatively recent. They were formerly of greater bulk
of body and coarser forms, and are said to have borne a greater
weight of wool than they now yield. But about sixty years

THE COTSWOLD BKEED. 189

ago, the New Leicester Breed, on its extension throughout
the central counties, was made to cross the Cotswold as well
as all the Long-woolled sheep of Gloucestershire. This sys-
tem of crossing was pursued so extensively, that after a time
there did not, perhaps, exist a single Cotswold flock which
was not more or less mixed in blood with the New Leicester
Breed. The effect was, as in other cases, to diminish the
bulk of body of the existing breed, and lessen the produce of
wool, but to communicate to the individuals a greater deli-
cacy of form. Between twenty and thirty years ago, how-
ever, the Cotswold breeders began to apprehend that their
flocks were losing too much in carcass and fleece, and be-
coming less fitted for the climate of their native hills. From
this period, a preference began to be given to the native stock,
and for many years past, crossing has been scarcely practised,
and most of the breeders have been desirous to revert more
to the former model of their breed.

The modern Cotswold Sheep are of a size somewhat supe-
rior to the highest bred New Leicesters, and their wool is
more close upon the body. The staple measures from 6 to 8
inches, and the fleece weighs, upon a medium, from 7 to 8 lb.,
that of the inferior flocks not exceeding 5 and 6 lb. It is
strong, of a good colour, rather coarse, but of a mellow
quality. These sheep have not been brought to the same
perfection of form as the New Leicester, and, like the sheep
of Romney Marsh, they tend to accumulate fat on the rump
almost to the degree of producing deformity ; but they are
hardy, and usually of sound constitutions. The females are
prolific, and good nurses, and the lambs are early covered with
a close fleece. At a former period, when tillage was less
extended than now, the Cotswold Sheep were frequently sent
in winter to the valleys of the Thames and Severn, and gene-
rally sold in the lean state at between two and three years
old. But since the old sheep-walks have been broken up, and
turnips and artificial grasses cultivated, the greater part of
the sheep that are reared in the country are likewise fattened

190 THE SHEEP.

in it. They are kept on turnips, vetches, hay, and the grasses
and clovers, and disposed of in the fat state at from a year
and a-half to two years old ; and within these last seven or
eight years, the practice has been introduced of bringing them
to market at twelve or fourteen months old. At the latter
age they weigh from 15 to 24 Ib. the quarter ; and, when from
a year and a-half to two years old, their medium weight is
calculated to be from 20 to 30 Ib. the quarter.

The Cotswold Breed, after having long yielded to the pro-
gress of the more highly cultivated New Leicester, has of
recent years been attracting the attention of general breeders,
and is now contesting the ground with the Leicester in various
districts of England and Wales. The qualities that in an
especial degree recommend it to notice are, its hardiness and
property of thriving under common treatment, and the faculty
of the females of yielding numerous lambs, and supporting
them well. The breed is still far short of the New Leicester
in form, but it has been making continued advances to a more
perfect state, by the increased attention bestowed on selection
and general treatment. The system of letting Rams for hire
has been adopted on the large scale by some of the Cotswold
breeders ; and from the attention which this necessarily di-
rects to the rearing of superior males, it cannot be doubted
that the Cotswold Breed will be yet further extended and
improved.

XXII.— THE NEW LEICESTER BREED.

The Breed of Sheep termed the New Leicester, is so named
from the county of Leicester, where it had its origin. It was
formed by Robert Bakewell of Dishley, whence it is likewise
termed the Dishley Breed. It was about the year 1755, that
Mr Bakewell began those experiments on the breeding of
animals, which led to such important results. His purpose
was to produce sheep exempt from the defects of the races

THE NEW LEICESTER BREED. 191

then cultivated, and possessed of a greater aptitude to fatten
and arrive at early maturity ; and the means which he em-
ployed were, breeding from the individuals, possessed of the
properties sought for, and rendering these properties perma-
nent in the offspring. It is known that, by continued selec-
tion of the male and female parents in a given number of
animals, the characters deemed defects can, under certain
limits, be removed, and the acquired properties rendered per-
manent in the progeny by continued reproduction with one
another. The principle that the virtues of parents are com-
municated to their young, was not newly discovered ; but it
was reserved for Bakewell to apply it in the case of the ani-
mals used for human food in a new manner, and to produce
more remarkable results than had before been arrived at.
He perfectly understood the relation which exists between
the external form of an animal and its aptitude to become fat
in a short time. He saw that this relation did not depend
upon size, nor, in the case of the Sheep, on the power of the
individual to yield a large quantity of wool. He therefore
departed from the practice of all former breeders of the Long-
woolled Sheep, who had regarded size and abundant growth
of wool as primary properties in the parents. Holding bulk
of body, and the produce of the fleece, to be secondary pro-
perties, Bakewell directed especial attention to the external
form which indicates the property of yielding the largest
quantity of muscle and fat, with the least bone, and what is
usually termed offal. He aimed, too, it is said, at producing
the fat on the most valuable parts ; but this is merely a sub-
sidiary property, dependent upon general harmony of con-
formation. Progressively perfecting his animals by skilful
selection, he necessarily continued to breed from his own
stock, and did not scruple to connect together animals the
nearest allied in blood to one another. This system, con-
tinually pursued, not only gave a permanency to the charac-
ters imprinted on his sheep, constituting a breed, in the pro-
per sense of the term, but tended to produce that delicacy of

192 THE SHEEP.

form, which experience shews to be connected with the power
of secreting fat, and arriving at early maturity, or what may
be termed premature age. The system, acted upon for suc-
cessive generations, tended likewise to render the animals
more the creatures of an artificial condition, more delicate in
temperament as well as in form, less prolific of lambs, and
less capable of supplying milk to their offspring. It cannot
be supposed that Bakewell was unobservant of these effects ;
but he appears to have regarded them as being of a con-
sideration secondary to the property of producing, in the
shortest time, the largest quantity of fat, with the least con-
sumption of herbage and other food. That this was the
main result at which he aimed, all his practice shews ; and
his success corresponded with the skill and perseverance
with which he applied his principles to practice. His stock
became gradually known and appreciated in the country
around him ; but it was not until after the lapse of nearly a
quarter of a century, that it arrived at that general estima-
tion in which it was afterwards held. He early conceived the
idea of letting his rams for the season, in place of selling
them. The plan was ridiculed and opposed in every way,
and it was not until after the labour of many years, that he
succeeded in establishing it as a regular system. It is said
that his rams were first let, in 1760, at 17s. 6d. each ; but this
was certainly before his breed had arrived at its ultimate
perfection. His usual price afterwards became a guinea,
and, in rarer cases, two or three ; but the price rapidly ad-
vanced with the increasing reputation of his stock. In
1784-5, the price had risen to about 100 guineas for his best
rams. In 1786, he made about 1000 guineas by the letting
of his stock ; and in 1789, he made 1200 guineas by three
rams, and 2000 guineas by seven ; and in the same year, he made
3000 guineas more by letting the remainder of his rams to the
Dishley Society, then instituted. These facts deserve to be re-
corded, as manifesting the high estimation in which the breed
of Bakewell was held as soon as its properties became known.

THE NEW LEICESTER BREED. 193

Controversies have arisen regarding the parent stock from
which Bakewell produced his breed. He himself chose to
adopt a studied mystery on the subject. Some have imagined
that the basis of his breed was the Old Lincolnshire, some
the Tees water, some the Warwickshire, while others con-
tend that he crossed with the By eland, the South Down, the
Cham wood Forest, or some other of the Short-woolled breeds,
in order to communicate that fineness of bone, and peculiar
character of wool, distinctive of' his breed. But whatever
were the first experiments of Bakewell, the knowledge of
them perished with the individual ; and there is nothing in
the breed, as it was at length perfected, which can enable us
to explain the progressive steps by which its characters were
acquired. In one of his letters to Mr Chaplin, he admits that
he had at one time made use of Old Lincoln rams ; but he
states, at the same time, that he had not done so for many
years, and he ever afterwards expressed the utmost dislike
of this coarse and unthrifty breed, which was, indeed, the
most removed of any other from the model which his own
principles of breeding led him to adopt. Neither was the
Old Teeswater one which presented the characters required.
This, it has been seen, was a very large and coarse breed,
and not one, therefore, which Bakewell was likely to select
as the basis of a stock, of which he sought rather to diminish
than increase the size. Besides, the wool of the Old Tees-
water Breed was extremely long in the filaments, and differed
greatly in this respect from the shorter and finer fleece ac-
quired by the New Leicesters. All the presumption is, that
the basis of Bakewell' s breed was the Long-woolled Sheep
of the midland counties, from which he may be supposed to
have made such selection as suited his purposes. On his
obtaining his paternal farm, he would necessarily succeed to
a stock of sheep similar to that which existed on the neigh-
bouring farms, and it would only be in accordance with the
practice of ordinary caution, that he should endeavour to im-
prove this stock rather than at once adopt another of a dif-

194 THE SHEEP.

ferent race. It is commonly believed, that a little before
the improvements of Bakewell, one breeder, at least, in the
county of Leicester, had acquired the distinction of possessing
superior sheep, and disposed of rams for the purpose of breed-
ing. Whether Bakewell owed anything to the anterior im-
provements of others, is unknown. From what we know of
his character and habits, he himself would have been the last
to acknowledge his obligations to another breeder ; but he
used such precautions for concealing the sources from which
he derived the means of improving his animals, as may well
favour the suspicion that he was not wholly without obliga-
tions to the labours of his cotemporaries or predecessors.
With respect to the opinion that he crossed his stock with
the Short-woolled Sheep, it rests upon no actual knowledge
of the fact. It appears that he made numerous experiments
in the early period of his breeding ; and it is not impossible
that he may have made a partial cross by such animals as
seemed to suit his purposes, without reference to their origin.
A certain darkness of colour in the skin of the face of his
Sheep may seem to favour the opinion that he had made a
cross with some of the dark-faced Down or Forest breeds ;
but we do not know whether the Old Leicesters did not, like
the Southam Notts, and some others of the larger varieties,
possess something of this peculiarity. With regard to the
delicacy of form, and shortness of wool, of the New Leicester
Breed, it is not necessary to account for their existence by
resorting to the supposition of a mixture of blood with any of
the short-woolled races. Both characters were necessarily
communicated by the system of breeding which Bakewell
pursued. Not only did he regard the growth of wool as
a secondary effect, but he appears to have entertained the
opinion, that the production of a large quantity of wool was
inconsistent with the property of yielding much fat ; and this
opinion would necessarily conduct him to the choice of ani-
mals for breeding which produced a lighter fleece. Besides,
the Sheep of the midland counties did not always produce

THE NEW LEICESTER BREED. 195

wool which was long in the staple. A part of the counties of
Leicester and Warwick lies in a calcareous country favour-
able to the production of the shorter and finer kinds of wool ;
and the wool of the Old Warwickshire Sheep, in particular,
appears to have closely approximated to that of the modern
Leicesters. There is no reason, therefore, to assume, from
any of the characters presented by the wool of the New Lei-
cester Breed, that the parent stock was any other than the
Long-woolled Sheep of the midland counties.

The New Leicester Sheep, though smaller in bulk of body
than the long-woolled races which they supplanted, are yet
of the larger class of Sheep with respect to weight. Their
limbs being shorter, and their bodies more round, compact,
and deep, than in the former breeds, they are of greater
weight in proportion to their apparent bulk. Their actual
size is various, depending on the wishes of breeders to pos-
sess larger or smaller animals, and on the fertility, natural
or acquired, of the districts in which they are reared. In
general, it may be said that the wethers weigh from 25 Ib.
to 35 Ib. the quarter, when fattened in their second year.
The wool is of medium length, having a staple of from six to
eight inches, and weighing about 7^ Ib. the fleece in Sheep
of fifteen or sixteen months old. It is too short and weak
to be admitted into the first class of combing wools, and, in
the properties which fit it for the manufacture of worsted, it
falls short of the wool of the older breeds. Nevertheless it
is more evenly grown, is soft, and of good colour, and pos-
sesses several properties of long wool in perfection.

But it is neither in the size or weight of body, nor in the
productiveness or quality of the wool, that the real value of
the New Leicester Breed consists. Its value and superiority
are to be found in its more perfect form, and aptitude to
fatten at an early age, in which respects it surpasses all the
other varieties of Long-woolled Sheep which have been culti-
vated in this country, or naturalized in any part of Europe.
The New Leicester Sheep can, under the ordinary manage-

196 THE SHEEP.

ment of the farm, be readily fattened for human food at the
age of fifteen months, that is, when, in the language of far-
mers, they are shearlings ; and in no case of practice do they
need to exceed the age of two years and a few months,
whereas the older breeds were not usually fattened for the
market until late in their third, or until their fourth year.
The females are not regarded as so prolific as those of the
older breeds, nor are the lambs so hardy or quickly covered
with a coat of wool, nor are the mothers such good nurses ;
and yet the breed is not deficient in these properties, except
where such refinement of breeding has been practised as to
produce a too delicate temperament. In this breed the hind
and fore quarters more nearly approximate in weight than
in the less cultivated varieties. The fatty tissue, too, is
more equally spread over the external muscles, and tends to
accumulate less about the kidneys and internal parts, and
hence the breed has never been so much a favourite with the
butchers as the less improved races. The flesh, as of all the
long-woolled breeds, is more lax in the fibre, and less deli-
cate, than that of the smaller breeds of the mountains,
forests, and downs; but the mutton does not seem in any
respect to have been inferior to that of the older breeds of
the same class.

Mr Bakewell, it has been said, early conceived the idea of
letting his ranis on hire in place of selling them to the
breeders. The animals were exhibited at Dishley at a stated
time, in the latter end of July, or beginning of August; and
the hirers put their own valuation on the rams they selected,
and the offers were accepted or refused, without any auction.
Certain conditions were understood or stipulated for, but no
written legal agreement was made, every thing being trusted
to the honour of the parties. About the middle of Septem-
ber, the animals were sent to their destination in carriages
hung on springs, and about the beginning of December, the
hirer was expected to return them in safety ; but if a ram
died from any cause while in the hands of the hirer, the loss

THE NEW LEICESTER BREED. 197

fell upon the owner. The whole system manifested a won-
derful degree of confidence and mutual good faith, and con-
tributed, in an essential degree, to the diffusion of the new
breed. Contemporaries and successors of Mr Bakewell
adopted the same plan, and the sums expended by distant
breeders in procuring, by this simple mean, the new breed of
which Leicester was the centre, were surprisingly great.
Up to the present time the practice has been carried on by
breeders of the first distinction, some of whom acquired the
unrivalled stock of Bakewell after his death, and are under-
stood to have preserved it unmixed to the present hour. Nor
was this system long confined to the county of Leicester, but
it extended to other parts of the kingdom. Mr Culley, who
had been a pupil of Bake well's, early established it on the
large scale in the north of England, in the county of North-
umberland, and various breeders, whose stock had acquired
the necessary breeding and reputation, adopted it ; so that
there was scarcely a district of the Long-woolled Sheep in
which one or more breeders did not pursue the practice of
letting rams. Not only did the system facilitate the diffu-
sion of the new breed, but it contributed in an eminent de-
gree to maintain its purity and goodness. It even enabled
a certain class of breeders to direct attention to the rearing
of rams as a distinct profession, and thus created a division
of labour in the practice of breeding singularly conducive to
its perfection.

The formation of the New Leicester Breed of Sheep may
be said to form an era in the economical history of the do-
mestic animals, and may well confer distinction on the indi-
vidual who had talent to conceive, and fortitude to perfect,
the design. The result was not only the creation of a breed
by art, but the establishment of principles which are of uni-
versal application in the production of animals for human
food. It has shewn that there are other properties than
size, and the kind and abundance of the wool, which render
a race of Sheep profitable to the breeder ; that a disposition

198 THE SHEEP.

to assimilate nourishment readily, and arrive at early ma-
turity, are properties to be essentially regarded ; and that
these properties have a constant relation to a given form,
which can be communicated from the parents to the young,
and rendered permanent by a mixture of the blood of the
animals to which this form has been transmitted. Bake-
well, doubtless, carried his principles to the limits to which
they could be carried with safety and profit to the owner of
Sheep. Looking to symmetry and usefulness of form as the
essential characters to be cultivated, he was too apt to re-
gard the others, not merely as secondary, but as unimport-
ant. He is reported to have said that he did not care whe-
ther his Sheep produced wool at all ; and he endeavoured,
on all occasions, to shew the inutility of size as compared
with the fattening property. But a close and abundant
growth of wool, it is known, is connected with a healthy
state of the system, and with the power of the animals to
resist cold and atmospheric changes ; and a certain size is
found, by the experience of all breeders of Sheep, to be an
element in the profit to be derived from them. Every owner
of Sheep is taught by the result, that an animal of a size to
fatten to 40 Ibs. the quarter, is more profitable than one that
is capable of reaching only to 30 Ibs. in the same time.
Weight of body, therefore, and the nature and productive-
ness of the fleece, are not to be overlooked in the cultivation
of Sheep ; and although they may be regarded as secondary
properties, they cannot be held to be unimportant ones. " But
if Bakewell carried his principles of breeding to an extreme,
there is no reason why his successors should not now profit
by the knowledge acquired by observation and experience,
and cultivate a profitable size, and suitable fleece, as far as
these consist with the other properties sought for. Bake-
well was compelled, in a sense, to confine himself to his own
stock, and to the blood of one family, in order to preserve
that standard of form which he had produced. From the
subsequent multiplication of the New Leicester Breed,

THE NEW LEICESTER BREED. 199

modern breeders are relieved from all necessity of this kind.
They can obtain individuals of the form required from dif-
feVent flocks of the same breed, and need never, by a con-
tinued adherence to the blood of one family, produce animals
too delicate in form, deficient in weight of wool, and in that
hardiness and soundness of constitution, which are even more
necessary than the perfectness of individual form, for the
safety and profit of the breeder. The sacrifice of the second-
ary properties which Bakewell did not hesitate to make, was
the result of circumstances which do not now exist ; and the
present feeling of breeders is to maintain a larger and more
robust form of the animals than seemed good to the earlier
improvers. Thus, the Cotswold Breed of Sheep, though far
inferior in form to the pure New Leicester, is maintaining a
successful rivalship with it over a large extent of country :
the lowland Gloucestershire, the Devonshire, and many of
the Lincolnshire agriculturists, are propagating a larger race
than is approved of by the Leicester breeders ; and even in
the north of England, where the Leicester Breed was early
established, a heavier race is preferred to the purest of the
Dishley stock.

But whatever diversities of opinion may exist with respect
to the degree of breeding, as it may be called, which it is ad-
visable to communicate to the several varieties of Sheep now
comprehended under the common denomination of Leicester,
no doubt can be entertained of the great benefits conferred on
the breeders of the country by the formation and diffusion of
the beautiful breed of Bakewell. Its superiority over all the
older races of the long-woolled districts is attested by the
degree in which it supplanted them, and the eagerness with
which it was everywhere received. In less jthan fifty years
from the first establishment of the shows of Dishley, it had
either superseded all the older Long-woolled Sheep of the
country, or been so mingled with them in blood, as to have
effaced their former distinctions. Not only did it supplant
or become mixed with the older races of heavy Sheep, but,

200 THE SHEEP.

after a time, it effected an important change in a great part
of the lighter Sheep of the country. In many cases it has
become mixed in blood with them, and in many it has caused
a substitution of the heavy-woolled for the light, over large
tracts of the country, so that entire districts, which, little
more than twenty years ago, were stocked with the Short-
woolled breeds, have not now one flock of them remaining.
In every way, then, the diffusion of this breed has added to
the value of the live stock of the country. It has caused a
superior race of animals to be reared in former districts of
the Down arid Forest Breeds, and extended over the richer
country one more suited for general cultivation than the
older and coarser races ; and has been the means of commu-
nicating to the former varieties of Long-woolled Sheep a uni-
formity of character eminently favourable to further improve-
ment, by multiplying the animals of a given breed which can
be selected for breeding. It has even improved the agricul-
ture of the country in an eminent degree, by calling forth a
larger production of forage and nerbage plants, for supplying
food to a superior race of animals.

Objections have been, from time to time, urged against the
extension of this breed, founded on its supposed inferiority
in size, in growth of wool, in hardiness, and fecundity of the
females, to some of the breeds which it supplanted. The
inferiority in size has been generally exaggerated with rela-
tion to this breed, and in all cases it produces a greater
weight with the same bulk of body ; and even where it is
deficient in weight, there has been a compensation in that
tendency to arrive at an earlier maturity, in which it emi-
nently excels all the races which have preceded it. If the
wool shall be less in quantity, or inferior in certain proper-
ties, to that of some of the older varieties, it must not be for-
gotten, that the most esteemed of these varieties, as the Old
Lincoln and Teeswater, were not suited for that extensive
diffusion, which has given so great a public importance to
the breed of Bakewell, and that the extension of the new

THE SHEEP. 201

breed has added prodigiously to the total quantity and value
of the long wool produced in the country. With respect to
the supposed deficiency of this breed in hardiness, and fecun-
dity of the females, it is to be observed, that this, where it
really exists, is the result of that refinement in breeding
which would equally affect any race of Sheep subjected to
the same treatment. The more we remove a race of animals
from the natural state, by stimulating the system to an early
maturity, the more we may expect them to lose that hardi-
ness which is proper to them in a ruder condition. The New
Leicester is a breed of artificial formation, and its establish-
ment and maintenance infer a certain advancement in agri-
culture, the due supply of cultivated food, and that care of
the animals which their acquired habits and temperament
demand. It is not denied that the New Leicester breed is
more delicate and less prolific than some of the coarser races
whose places it has taken ; but these defects exist only in
a degree to be injurious, where refinement of breeding is
carried to an excess which every breeder has now the power
to avoid.

The BREEDS OF SHEEP of the British Islands which have
been generally referred to, or of which particular descrip-
tions have been given, may be thus classified : —

1. 'The Zetland and Orkney Breeds, of the variety Irevi-
cauda. — They inhabit the most northerly islands, and are dis-
tinguished by their bearing a fleece of fine soft wool, largely
intermixed with hairs. The purest of them are found on the
remoter Islands of Zetland. They are hardy, wild, and of
small size ; and do not merit extension beyond the countries
which they now occupy.

2. The Older Soft-woolled Sheep of Scotland. — They are
of small weight, have long lank bodies, and bear a short soft
wool, fitted for the manufacture of flannels, but deficient in
the property of felting. These varieties are now nearly ex-

202 THE SHEEP.

tinct, or confined to the remoter islands and islets of the
Hebrides.

3. The Sheep of Wales, which may be divided into two
classes ; 1. The Sheep of the Higher Mountains, horned, of
diminutive size, usually of a dark colour, and bearing soft
wool, largely intermixed with hairs ; 2. The Hornless Soft-
woolled Sheep, likewise of small size, bearing wool of a soft
texture, fitted for the manufacture of hose and flannels, but
deficient in the property of felting. To the typical forms of
these races all the Mountain Sheep of Wales are more or
less allied. They are valued for the delicacy of their mut-
ton, and are carried in numbers to the lower country, for the
purpose of being fattened. They are hardy, but impatient of
restraint, when removed from their native pastures. Allied
in their characters to the Mountain Breeds of Wales are the
Sheep of the Wicklow Mountains, now disappearing in the
pure state, from the effects of crossing.

4. The Kerry and other Sheep of the high lands of Ire-
land, wild, slow in arriving at maturity, and producing a
fleece of medium softness, but irregular, and mixed with
hairs.

5. The Black-faced Heath Breed, inhabiting the central
chain of heathy mountains and moors which extend from
Derbyshire northward. These sheep have long been carried
to the mountains of Scotland, and now extend all northward
through the northern Highlands to the Pentland Firth. They
are armed with horns, and are the hardiest and boldest of
all the races of British Sheep. They have dark-coloured
faces and limbs, and bear shaggy fleeces of coarse wool.
Their characters change when they are naturalized in the less
rugged mountains and moors. In the lower heaths of York-
shire, they approximate, through the coarse and unthrifty
breed of Penistone, to the larger sheep of the plains : in other
cases they pass into the finer-woolled sheep of the Commons,
lower Heaths, and Forests. They produce a juicy and well-

THE SHEEP. 203

flavoured mutton, and are brought in great numbers from the
mountains, to be fattened in the lower country.

6. The Cheviot Breed, derived from a limited tract of
green hills in the north of England, and thence widely spread
over the mountainous districts of Scotland, and some parts
of England and Ireland. These sheep somewhat exceed in
weight the Black-faced Heath Breed : they are less robust,
and less suited to a country of heaths, but yet they are
amongst the hardiest of our Mountain Sheep. They are des-
titute of horns in both sexes, and bear wool of medium fine-
ness, fitted for preparation by the card, and employed in the
manufacture of the coarser woollen cloths.

7. The Old Norfolk Breed, reared in the heathy parts of
the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge. — They are
a strong and agile race of Sheep, armed with horns in both
sexes, bear a clothing of wool of medium length, and are
greatly valued for the excellence of their mutton. They pro-
duce admirable crosses with the more highly cultivated
breeds, and especially with the South Down, from which
cause they are rapidly diminishing in numbers in the pure
state.

8. The Breeds of the Older Forests, Commons, and Chases.
— These vary in their aspect, size, and properties, with the
localities in which they have been naturalized. They have
•often dark or gray faces and limbs, have sometimes horns,
and are sometimes destitute of horns, and bear, for the most
part, a short felting wool. They have been continually
diminishing in numbers with the appropriation of commons
and the improvement of the country, so that few now remain
without a mixture of the more cultivated breeds. In the
West of England, however, are still to be found the Dart-
moor and Exmoor breeds in considerable numbers, the for-
mer occupying the high lands of Devonshire in the forest of
Dartmoor ; the latter, a rugged district of limited extent at
the sources of the river Exe in Somersetshire. They are
both very wild and hardy races of small Sheep, and differ

204 THE SHEEP.

from the other Forest Breeds by producing wool of medium
length, and more fitted for preparation by the comb than the
card.

9. The Ry eland Breed, the remains of some of the smaller
fine-woolled varieties of the western counties. — These Sheep
are hornless, of small size, and of good forms, patient of
scanty food, and productive of a fine short felting wool, which
was long the most esteemed for the making of cloth of any
in England. This breed, from the substitution of the larger
varieties, and the effects of crossing, has been long diminish-
ing in numbers, and is now nearly extinct.

10. The South Down Breed, derived from the chalky hills
of Sussex on the British Channel. — It is to be classed
amongst the Down and Forest Breeds, but it has been made
to surpass them all by the effects of breeding and careful
culture. It has been widely spread over all the south-east-
ern counties of England, and has passed into districts be-
yond the countries of the Chalk, taking the place of the pre-
existing breeds of the downs and commons. The Sheep of
this breed are destitute of horns, have dark-coloured faces
and limbs, and produce a short felting wool fitted for pre-
paration by the card. Their size varies with the locality,
and the taste and opinions of the breeders ; but they are of
greater weight, and bear heavier fleeces, than the older
Sheep of the Sussex Downs. They are adapted to a lower
range of pastures than the Black-faced Sheep and Cheviot
Breeds, and are better fitted for a dry and temperate climate
than for a cold and moist one.

11. The Old Wiltshire.— This and the other varieties of
the larger fine-woolled Sheep of the central counties of Chalk,
may be said to be now extinct beyond a few scattered rem-
nants. They produced good felting wool, and fattened to a
considerable weight ; but they were of coarse forms, and
have universally yielded to the progress of the more highly
cultivated Southdowns.

12. The Dorset and Pink-nosed Somerset Breeds, natural-

THE SHEEP. 205

ized in the calcareous district of the south-western counties.
They have horns in both sexes, bear a clothing wool of me-
dium quality, and are noted, beyond any other breed, for the
faculty of the females to receive the males at an early sea-
son. This latter property has caused them to be extensively
cultivated for the rearing of house-lambs. They have now
been much diminished in numbers by the effects of crossing,
and the substitution of other breeds regarded as more pro-
fitable. Allied to these varieties is the Isle of Portland
Breed, of small size, and of little economical importance be-
yond the narrow district which it inhabits.

13. The Merino Breed, derived from the mountains of
Spain, but partially naturalized in England. — It bears the

, finest wool of any known race of Sheep. On account of this
property it has been extensively diffused over a great part of
Europe, and carried to America, the Cape of Good Hope,
and the Colonies of England in Australia. The individuals,
however, are of defective forms, of tender constitutions, defi-
cient in the power of yielding milk, and slow in arriving at
maturity. For these reasons, the Merino Breed, notwith-
standing the abundance and excellence of its wool, has been
received with little favour in England, and is deemed inferior
in value to the more improved varieties of the country.

14. The Long-woolled Sheep, comprehending, First, the
pure New Leicester Breed ; and, Secondly, the varieties more
or less intermixed with it in blood, of which the principal are :
1st, the larger class of Lincolnshire Sheep ; 2d, the Romney
Marsh Breed ; 3d, the Cotswold Breed ; 4th, the Devonshire
Notts ; bth, the Long-woolled Irish varieties. All these Sheep
are of large size, are destitute of horns in both sexes, and bear
long wool, unsuited for preparation by the card, but eminently
fitted for preparation by the comb, and the manufacture of
stuffs termed Worsted. They are the kinds of Sheep more
especially adapted to the plains, and the districts where arti-
ficial food can be reared in the necessary quantity. They
have been continually increasing in numbers with the exten-

206 THE SHEEP.

sion of tillage and the general improvement of agriculture.
Of the several varieties, the New Leicester Breed occupies
the first class with respect to form and the aptitude to fatten
readily. The larger Lincolnshire, the Romney Marsh, the
Cotswold, and the improved Devonshire Breeds, have each
properties which render their cultivation profitable under
particular circumstances. The Irish varieties have not yet
generally attained to the perfection at which the others have
arrived.

SHORT-HORNED BULL.

III. THE OX.

The important family of which the common Ox may be
regarded as typical, divides itself into three groups, — the
BISONTINE, the BUB ALINE, and the TAURINE. The Bisons
inhabit both the Old and New Continents, and are distin-
guished by round smooth horns, and a musky odour which
exhales from the skin. The Buffaloes are characterized by
angular horns, and a fainter odour of musk, and are natives
of the warmer regions of Asia and Africa. The Taurine
group, comprehending the common Ox and its different races,
forms the most important division of Bovidee.

208 THE OX.

The EUROPEAN BISON, Bison Europceus, which once
abounded in the great forests of Europe, is a fierce and
powerful creature. He is the fiusuv of the Greeks, the Bison
of the Latins, the Wisent of the Older Germans, the Zubr
of the Poles, and the Zub of the Arabians. He for-
merly abounded in the Hercynian and Sarmatian forests,
and was regarded as the largest of the quadrupeds indige-
nous to Europe. But, like many animal species, the great
Bison of Europe seems doomed to perish under a condition
of countries that is no longer suited to him. He merely
lingers in a portion of the vast regions of forest which he
once inhabited. He is found in herds in the marshy forest
of Bialowieza in Poland, where he is protected by the Go-
vernment of Russia. He does not wander beyond the woods
where he yet lingers, because it is probable the sustenance
which suits him is not to be found in another habitat ; and
even in this retreat, he would probably cease to exist, were
it not for the care used in supplying him with food during
the snows of winter.

Bisons are still found in considerable herds in the woods
of the Caucasus. According to the recent travels of Nord-
man, they exist in the greatest numbers from the Kuban to
the Psib. In some places they inhabit the mountains in
summer ; in others, they are met with in swampy places all
the year round. They are killed by the natives, and their
horns, formed into drinking cups, are used by the wild chief-
tains of the country. A large kind of Bison is likewise found
in British India ; but whether it is identical with the Bisons
of Western Asia and Europe, or a distinct species, has not
been determined. It is termed Gaur by the natives, and by
some naturalists Bos gaurus. It has been hitherto found in
the thick jungles in the western confines of the provinces of
Bengal and Bahar. It is often killed by British sportsmen,
but of the young none has yet been captured. The villagers
have a superstitious terror of these creatures, and cannot be
persuaded to go in search of the calves ; believing that, if

HISTORY. 209

the Gaurs are in any way molested, they will attack the per-
sons disturbing them, and never quit them till they have put
them to death.

The European Bison is a large animal, equalling in stature
the tallest of the domestic oxen of the countries he inhabits.
His head is broad, and the forehead bulging ; the horns are
round, thick, black, and of a hard consistence, arid larger in
the male than in the female : the eye is small, and its usual
character is placid ; but when the animal is roused to anger,
the pupil narrows to a slit, the coat becomes inflamed, and
all the expression indicates blind fury and madness. The
tongue is covered with tubercles, and, together with the lips,
gums, and palate, is blue. The trunk and hinder parts of
the body are relatively slender, the shoulders thick, and in
the adult male the spines are so lengthened as to form withers.
The skin is exceedingly thick, and emits the odour of musk.
The trunk, down to the knees, is covered with woolly hair,
the top of the head, neck, and shoulder, with long hair mixed
with frizzled wool, forming a mane, and from the chine to the
chest is a kind of beard. The tail comes below the hocks, and
at its extremity is furnished with a brush of long bristly
hairs. The female has smaller horns than the male, and
less elevated withers. Though a large animal, she has an
udder smaller than that of the least of the domestic Cows.

These creatures are ferocious, strong, and fearless of ene-
mies. They hold their heads low, are swift of foot, but are
soon worn out, seldom running farther than one or two Eng-
lish miles. They swim with facility, and delight to cool them-
selves in water. Their favourite places of resort are thickets
near the swampy banks of rivers. In the warmer season
they frequent shadowy spots ; in winter they keep quiet during
the day, in the thickets of firs and pines, browsing only at
night, and finding sustenance on the bark of young trees.
The thrusts of an old bull will overturn trees of five or six
inches diameter. An old bull, we are informed, is a match

210 THE OX.

for four wolves, though packs of the latter animal will hunt
down a full-grown bull when alone.*

Like all the Bovine race in a state of nature, they avoid
the dangerous approach of man. When suddenly come upon,
they rush upon the intruder with fury. When taken young,
they become used to their keepers, but resent the intrusion
of strangers, and seem incapable of resigning their natural
wildness, and submitting to domestication. They abhor the
domestic races, shunning them, or goring them to death.
Four young ones, captured in the forest of Bialowieza, af-
forded to M. Gilbert, who had long resided in Poland, op-
portunities of observing their habits. They refused to take
the milk of the cow, but at length submitted to be suckled by
a she-goat, raised on a table to the level of their muzzles.
When satisfied, they sometimes tossed the nurse and the
table to the distance of several feet. The two males died
within a month. The females survived : they became docile
and obedient to their keeper, licking his hands, rubbing his
body gently with their heads and muzzles, and coming to
him when they heard his voice. They hated the sight of
scarlet, and drove all the common cows from their pastures.
They came into season at the age of two years, and rejected
the approaches of the domestic bull.

The forest in which these creatures are preserved, con-
tains about 352 geographical square miles, of which about
one-sixth part consists of rushy swamps, and is intersected
by numerous rivulets, and by one considerable river. The
number of Bisons consists, at present, of about 700 : they
are protected by the Government, and are only suffered to be
killed in small numbers, by especial permission. When the
wolves are to be hunted, it is done with caution, and by a
small number of dogs ; and any noisy occupations which
might disturb the animals, are prohibited within the forest.f

* Weissenborn, Magazine of Natural History. f \Veissenborn.

HISTORY. 211

From the habits of this creature, his indoeility, and the in-
stinctive aversion to the domestic races, it will appear that he
is not one of those animals which Providence has ordained to
yield up their services to man, and become an instrument of
good to our race. He is rather to be numbered amongst
those which are destined to disappear before the progress of
civilization and the arts. By a rare chance, human interfer-
ence has saved the wreck of the species in Europe from that
destruction which awaited it ; but this can only be for a
season, and the time will doubtless come, when the great
Bison of the European woods will be numbered with those
extinct species, whose bones alone remain to testify their
former existence.

The next to be mentioned of the Bisontine group is proper
to another hemisphere, and was only made known to us when
the rich savannahs and boundless forests of the Western Con-
tinent revealed their living inhabitants to the wondering eyes
of European travellers. The AMERICAN BISON, Bison Ame-
ricanus, commonly, but erroneously, termed a Buffalo, re-
sembles the Bison of Europe in his general form, and in some
of his habits. His head is large ; his forehead is broad
and convex; his horns are short, thick, and black; his
eyes are small, clear, and piercing, with a placid expres-
sion, except when he is irritated, and then the expression
turns to that of ferocity and rage. He is very bulky in
front, and has large withers, to which powerful muscles
are attached to support his ponderous head. The back
droops from the withers, and the posterior part of the body
is meagre and thin. On the summit of his head there is
an abundance of long woolly hair, which hangs over the
face, the ears, and the horns. The throat, the neck, the
shoulders, and the breast, are covered with long hair ; the
back, and the rest of the trunk, are covered with short hairy
wool. The colour of his fur is, in summer, a light brown, in
winter a brownish-black. The tail is about eighteen inches

212 THE OX.

long, terminated by a tuft of hair. The female is smaller
than the male, and has shorter horns, and less of hair on the
anterior parts. The male, when fully grown, has been some-
times found to weigh 2000 lb., though the average weight is
said to be 12 or 14 cwt.

This is a very strong and agile creature, making its way
with great swiftness through tangled brushwood and heaps
of snow. He is more irritable than dangerous, and flies from
the sight of the hunter. When attacked by large dogs, he
defends himself with courage. If his enemies catch him by
his shaggy coat, he tosses them overhead in an instant.
Should they succeed in pinning him by the nose, after the
manner of attack by the bull-dog, he spreads his fore-legs,
and brings his hind-feet forward till he treads the dog be-
neath him. He then tears his head loose, regardless of the
wound, and crushes his enemy beneath his feet. These animals
are eminently gregarious and migratory. They feed on the
herbage of plains, and the sedgy plants of morasses and
swamps. They are fond of salt, and travel great distances to
the saline springs which yield this condiment : they swim
with ease, crossing the most rapid rivers : they delight in
coolness and moisture, bathing in pools and lakes during the
heat of summer : in the winter season they dig the snow
with their feet, that they may reach the plants beneath. They
inhabit the temperate parts of North America, congregating
in herds, in the woods and vast plains and savannahs where
they feed. In summer they migrate northward, and then it
is that they are seen in those prodigious herds that strike
the traveller with wonder. The countless multitude seems
to darken the plain, and stretch to the horizon. Captains
Lewis and Clark, on one occasion, mention that the moving
mass which they beheld could not be less than 20,000 in
number. At another time, they saw a herd crossing the
Missouri, which, though the river was a mile in breadth,
stretched across it from side to side as thick as the animals
could swim.

HISTORY. 213

The paths they make to the pools of fresh water or saline
springs which they frequent, are often as numerous and trod-
den as the highways of a peopled country ; and all travellers
in the western countries speak with amazement of the traces
of their numbers. They retire to the boundless wilds of the
interior before the progress of the settler, and from the per-
secution of the chase. Formerly they were to be found to
the eastward of the Apalachian Mountains ; but they are now
driven to the remoter wilderness towards the Ohio, the Mis-
souri, and west of the Mississippi on the south. They are the
subjects of incessant attack and pursuit by the Indian tribes,
who feed upon their flesh, and make cloaks, sandals, and other
fabrics, of their hides. They are often slaughtered in vast
numbers together. Sometimes they are driven in crowds into
ravines, and to the edges of precipices, where they are killed
by lances and other missiles. Sometimes, the grass being
set fire to, the herd is encompassed and thrown into confu-
sion, and all other means which their savage persecutors can
devise are employed to entrap and destroy them. This fright-
ful carnage cuts off by degrees the sources of the future sup-
ply ; and the time may come when this marvel of the Ameri-
can wilderness will be as rare to be seen as the Bison of the
Lithuanian forests.

Of the fitness of this creature for domestication no doubt
can exist. He is the native Ox of America : and had the
country been inhabited by civilized communities, in place of
tribes of savage hunters, a creature so formed by Nature
for the service of man could not have remained unsubdued.
He is far more docile than the Bison of Europe, and mani-
fests no antipathy to the domestic race. He breeds with
the latter ; but how far the mixed progeny would be fruitful
with one another, has not. it is believed, been determined.
He is tamed with great facility, and manifests no ferocity.
Numbers are sometimes separated from the herd by the
back- woodsmen of the United States, driven long journeys,
and brought in, perfectly subdued, to the American towns, to

214 THE OX.

be disposed of to the inhabitants. It is said that they are
sometimes kept on the farms of Kentucky, \vhere the objec-
tions to them are, — that the cow yields a small quantity of
milk, and of a musky flavour ; and that she is restless, leap-
ing the barriers intended to confine her, and enticing "the
other cattle to follow her to the woods. The flesh of the
animal is reckoned good, and in an especial degree the tongue,
and fleshy hump upon the shoulder. The hair has so much
of the woolly character, that it may be woven into cloth, or
formed into hats by the felting process : the skin is very
thick, and when tanned, or else with the wrool upon it, forms
a warm covering, used by the Indians for cloaks and blankets.
But the chief value of the domesticated Bison, it may be be-
lieved, would be for the purposes of labour, for which his
agility and the great strength of his shoulders seem pecu-
liarly to adapt him. A farmer on the great Kenhawa, we
are informed by Mr Bingley, broke a young Bison to the
yoke : the animal performed his work to admiration, and the
only fault his master had to find with him was, that his pace
was too quick for the steer with which he was yoked.

Beyond the range of the American Bison, and stretching
into regions of everlasting ice, is the habitat of another spe-
cies of Bison, suited to other conditions of temperature and
food. The MUSK Ox, Ovibos moschatus, first appears about
the 60th degree of northern latitude, and thence is found to
the very extremity of the American continent, wandering in
search of food to the dreary islands beyond it during the brief
space of the arctic vegetation. This creature is about the
size of the little Ox of the most northerly Highlands of Scot-
land. He has no muzzle, or naked space around the nose
and lips, like the Common Ox and Bison, but, like the Sheep,
he is covered to the lips with hair ; and hence the genus has
been termed Ovibos, as partaking of the character of the Ox
and the Sheep. His horns, broad at the base, covering the
upper part of the forehead, and bending downward, and then
upward, enable him to defend himself against the Bear and

HISTORY. 215

the Wolf. To protect him from the cold, he is enveloped
from head to foot in a dense fur, consisting partly of hair and
partly of wool. The long hair almost trails to the ground,
and underneath is a thick coat of delicate wool, of which fabrics
like the finest silk may be formed. He has short muscular
limbs and hoofs, like those of the Rein-deer, and he is endowed
with great activity, scaling the icy rocks of the country when
pursued. He feeds partly on grasses and partly on lichens,
and he is usually seen browsing in small herds or bands.
His skin emits the strong odour of musk. Though suited,
perhaps, to perform the same services as the Rein-deer, he
has never been subjected to servitude. He is hunted by the
rude Indians for his skin and flesh, which last is hard, lean,
and tainted with the flavour of musk. The Esquimaux, Avhose
country he inhabits along with the Rein-Deer, cover their
heads and faces with his long hair, to defend them from the
bites of musquitoes. They eat his flesh, and devour the con-
tents of his paunch, which is filled with the lichens and other
plants on which he feeds.*

A like form of the Bison seems to have extended westward
into Asia, by Behring's Staits, along the shores of the Icy
Ocean. But the osseous remains of this animal alone exist,
and naturalists have not determined whether he was identi-
cal with the species of America, or distinct from it. His
habitat shews that he was, like it, formed to brave the rigour
of the coldest climates of the globe.

Proceeding southward into Central Asia, another species
of the Bisontine family appears, with habits which adapt him
to the services of man. This creature is the Yak of the Tar-
tar nations, the Bos gruniens of modern naturalists, so named
on account of the sound of his voice, which, like that of other
Bisons, resembles the grunting of the Hog. This animal is
found, both in the wild and the domesticated state, extending
from the mountains of Thibet, through the vast countries of

* Richardson, Faun. Bor. Araer.

216 THE OX.

the Kalmuk and Mongolian nations, to the Pacific Ocean.
In the wild state his chief habitat is near the chain of snowy
mountains separating India from Tartary.

This species of Bison is about the size of the lesser breeds
of Oxen in Britain ; but he is of a stout form, with short mus-
cular limbs. He has fourteen pairs of ribs like the European
Bison, and the anterior spines of his back are so lengthened
as to form withers. He is armed with short and smooth
horns, which frequently are wanting : they are black, or white,
or white tipped with black, and bend upwards at the points.
His muzzle is narrow, and covered with hairs, approaching
in this respect to the character of the Ovibos. He is thickly
clothed with hair and wool, to protect him from the cold of
the elevated country which he inhabits. On the forehead, the
hair is short and curling ; on the back, long, pendent, and
mixed with wool ; and along the spine runs a kind of mane,
The tail reaches to the heels, and is covered with long, fine
hairs, giving to the animal the aspect of an ox with a horse's
tail : hence he has been sometimes termed the Horse-tailed
Buffalo. The colour of the hair varies in the domesticated
race ; it is usually black, or brownish-black, but other parts
of the body are white, as the legs, the back, and the fine and
graceful tail. The height of the animals at the withers is
said to be about three feet ten inches, but there must be
great variations in size ; for, in the British Museum, there is
preserved the tail of a Yak, which measures six feet in
length.*

The Yaks, in their state of nature, seem to prefer the woods
of mountains to the valleys and open plains, and, like other
Bisons, to seek the neighbourhood of rivers, lakes, and pools ;
arid this fondness for an aquatic situation they retain in the
domestic state, wallowing in pools when occasion offers, and
swimming when they come to rivers. They have a some-
what gloomy aspect, and are said to be suspicious of strangers,

* Griffith's Animal Kingdom.

HISTORY. 217

and are even dangerous to be approached. Thus travellers
on advancing to the Tartar camps, have seen the herd ap-
proach as if to make an attack, whisking their long tails, and
tossing their heads in a menacing manner.

This species is the only kind of cattle cultivated by many
of the Kalmuk tribes, and even by some of the Western
Tartars. Tt seems to be well adapted to the condition of
those elevated plains, where continual changes of place are
required to afford fresh pasturage for the flocks and herds
of the communities. The Yaks are well suited for these fre-
quent journeyings, being hardy, sure-footed, and capable of
bearing burdens. The natives make tents and ropes of their
hair, and coverings of their skins. The milk of the female
is plentiful and good, yielding excellent butter. Thus the
Yak is a valuable animal in those countries of migratory
herdsmen, yielding at the same time food and the means of
transport. A profitable trade, too, is pursued by the Tartars
in the white tails which many of the oxen produce. These
tails are dyed of various beautiful colours, and are in request
over all the East. They form the standards of the Persians
and Turks : they are used in India and Persia as chouries
or fly-fans, for which purpose they are supplied with ivory
handles finely carved : they are used as ornaments for the
harnessing of elephants and horses : the Chinese dye the
hair of a beautiful red, and form it into tufts for their bon-
nets.

The next in order of the Bovidse is the BUBALINE group,
distinguished hy a narrow convex forehead, higher than wide,
and by angular, not rounded, horns. The general aspect of
these animals is clumsy, their limbs are strong, their muzzle
is broad, their ears are large and pendent ; their hide is thick,
usually coal-black, partially covered with hairs, and in the
warmer countries nearly destitute of hairs. They are fond
of water, and, like Hogs, wallow in moist and miry places.
The female has four mammae, but two sometimes are not de-
veloped.

218 THE OX.

Of Buffaloes in the state of nature, there seem to be more
than one species which have not been sufficiently described.
One of these, inhabiting the forests of India, is of great size
and strength, with horns of enormous length. No live speci-
men of this animal has yet been brought to Europe, but the
head and horns have been obtained, and are to be found in
various museums in England. The horns are of a crescent
form, and have been obtained six feet in length, measuring a
foot and a half in circumference at the base, and covering
from point to point a space of ten feet. The skin of this ani-
mal is covered with hair, in which respect it differs from
others of the genus, and the tail extends no lower than the
hock. It is surprising that various naturalists should main-
tain that this species is identical with the Common Buffalo.
The widest differences of external form must be disregarded
in discriminating species, if such an opinion can be sustained.
This gigantic creature has been seen and killed by British
sportsmen, and is certainly distinct from the Common Buf-
falo. He is the Bos Ami of Shaw ; the Gigantic Arnee of
travellers and writers. Another variety of Arnee is more
abundant, and congregates in herds. His horns are very
long, and have likewise a crescent form. Droves of them
are to be seen floating in the Ganges, suffering themselves
to be carried by the current to the creeks and islands where
they feed. But whether this creature differs from the other
in any other respect than age, has not been determined.

The COMMON BUFFALO, Bos bubalus, Linn., inhabits the
marshy forests of India. These creatures are found, both in
the wild and the tame state, throughout Hindostan and other
countries of the East. They run with their heads held in
a horizontal position, so that their horns rest upon -their
shoulders. Though more or less independent in their habits,
they yet assemble in herds for mutual protection, or when in
search of food. They avoid the short herbage of hills, pre-
ferring the coarser plants of moist woods and marshy plains.
They delight in water : they float upon the current, and cross

HISTORY. 219

without hesitation arms of the sea and the broadest rivers.
They are seen to dive as they swim, and drag up by their horns
the aquatic plants on which they feed. In the domesticated
state, they retain the love of moist situations ; they haunt the
banks of rivers ; they love to wallow in pools and swamps ;
and will lie for hours in mud, or sunk, their heads alone
visible, beneath the water of pools. Whole herds are to be
seen crossing the Euphrates or the Nile, their keepers direct-
ing them, and stepping from back to back as on a floating
raft. Their sense of smell is acute, and they are persever-
ing in pursuit of assailants. They are fierce when irritated,
and will not turn from their enemies. Even the Tiger dreads
their formidable, strength. When brought to fight with other
animals in the arena, to afford a cruel pastime to Indian
princes, the courage of the Tiger quails the instant the Buf-
falo enters the arena : he would willingly shun the combat ;
while the Buffalo, excited to fury at the sight of his natural
enemy, bends his head level with the ground, that his horns
may be in a position to strike, and rushes, notwithstanding
the wounds he receives, on his terrible opponent. These
powerful animals seem to be insensible of fear. When they
fight, they strive to lift their enemy on their horns, and when
he is thrown down, to crush him to death with their knees.
Their fury then seems to be insatiable : they trample on the
mangled body of their victim, and return again and again as
if to glut their vengeance. They have a memory tenacious
of wrongs, and will resent them when occasion offers. In-
stances are known, when, after having been brutally forced
by their keeper to tasks beyond their strength, they have
seized the first opportunity to rush upon their tyrant and put
him to death. Like all the Bovine family, they are roused
to fury by the sight of scarlet and bright colours.

The Buffalo is a creature of vast strength, which, in the
state of servitude, he exercises in the pulling of loads and
the bearing of burdens. - In this respect he far surpasses any
other of the Bovine family. When yoked in rude waggons

220 THE OX.

and cars, he drags them through miry tracks, swamps, and
shallow rivers, with a force which no other animal but the
Elephant could exert, and performs tasks of continued labour,
under which the strongest horses and bullocks would sink
down and die. His pace, however, is measured and slow,
and unless he is cooled and largely supplied with water, he
becomes feeble, and subject to mortal diseases. He may be
termed the Camel of a country of marshes, but he would
perish under the toils and thirst of an arid country. Though
retaining, in the state of servitude, the sullen aspect and sus-
picious character which are natural to him, he yet can be re-
duced to complete subjection. He is managed by a ring, or
simply by a rope, passed through the cartilage of his nose.
Much of his acquired docility depends upon education and
treatment. In Eastern countries, where he is used with
gentleness, and carefully instructed, he manifests an intelli-
gence in which no other oxen surpass him, and becomes so
gentle, that he may be 'guided by a child in all the labours of
the field.

The flesh of the Buffalo is hard and coarse, and could not
be endured in countries where a value is set upon delicate
animal food. His skin is esteemed for its thickness and dura-
bility, surpassing greatly in this respect the hide of the Ox.
It is so tough that it is used for defensive armour by the
Javanese and other people of the Indian islands. The milk
of the female is nutritive and well-tasted ; but she yields it in
smaller quantity than the common cows of Europe, and be-
comes sooner dry when separated from her young, for whom
she manifests the strongest affection.

The Buffalo is extensively domesticated in India, Siam,
China, and all the warmer countries of the East. He extends
westward through Persia and Arabia to the shores of the
Red Sea and the Hellespont. He spreads from Egypt along
the southern coasts of the Mediterranean. He is found in
Greece and the islands of the Archipelago, in Spain, Italy,
Hungary, and in part of the Russian dominions in Europe.

HISTORY. 221

In the warmer regions of the East, the Buffalo has been
domesticated beyond all memorial of tradition and history.
But his introduction into Europe did not take place until
an era comparatively recent. He was first known to the
Greeks, and then only by description, on the conquest of
Persia by Alexander the Great. Aristotle correctly describes
him as being of a black colour, and as having a strong body,
and thick horns lying backward : but the Bou/SaXos of Aristotle,
as well as the Bubalus of the early Roman writers, was of
the Antelope family, and distinct from the modern Buffalo.
From the period when the Buffalo of the East was first re-
ferred to by the great naturalist of Greece, nearly a thousand
years elapsed before he was introduced as the beast of labour
into Europe. It has been supposed that the Huns and other
barbarians of the East brought him with them when they
migrated for settlement and conquest towards the Roman
States ; in which case he may be supposed to have been first
introduced into Thrace and other countries of the Danube.
Warnefried states that Buffaloes appeared in Italy in the
year 596 ; and some of the earlier Monkish chroniclers refer
to them with a sort of horror, as a strange kind of Oxen
brought from Pagan lands. The Buffalo has been long in
use in Egypt, though it does not appear that it was cultivated
by the early Egyptians. Some suppose that he was not in-
troduced into Egypt until after the conquests of the Saracens.
The Arabian Mahommedans refuse to eat of the flesh of the
Buffalo, on account, it may be believed, of his resemblance
to the Hog. They have a strange tradition that the Hog
and the Buffalo were the only animals which the Prophet
was unable to convert to the true faith !

Of the European countries, Italy is that in which the Buf-
falo is the most largely used as the beast of labour and the
assistant of the husbandman. He there forms the riches of
the poor inhabitants, who feed upon his milk and flesh, and
use him in all the labours of carriage and the field. He finds

222 THE OX.

a fitting habitation in the pestilential swamps with which this
beautiful country is defaced. Vast herds of them are seen
grazing in the wild and swampy plains of Calabria, in the
Pontine Marshes near Rome, and in other places along the
shores which the deadly malaria renders nearly unfit for hu-
man abode. In such cases the Buffaloes live almost in the
state of nature, under the guidance of armed herdsmen, who
acquire by habit a wonderful command over them. Often
they are brought to Rome to be baited in the public shows
by trained combatants, who exhibit surprising feats of courage
and address.

The Buffalo owes his general diffusion in the domesticated
state to his hardiness, to his power of subsisting on coarse food,
and to his great strength and fitness for labour. It becomes
a question, whether it would be expedient to carry him be-
yond the countries in which he is now naturalized, to others
more distant, as France, Holland, and England. The ques-
tion, it is believed, must be answered in the negative. The
Buffalo is really the creature of the warmer countries, and
his superiority over the Domestic Ox continually diminishes
as we arrive at countries where the common grasses become
abundant. He is in all cases, indeed, to be preferred for
physical strength and endurance of labour to the Ox, but his
pace is slow, and his action sluggish. In this country he
cannot in any degree be compared to the Horse for the active
labours of the road and farm, while the flesh would be in no
demand, and the milk yielded by the cow would be too incon-
siderable to be of value for the dairy.

The Bubaline family likewise appears in Africa, and with
such modifications of form as the peculiar physical condition
of this vast continent produces in so many animal species.
Although it may be the Asiatic Buffalo which has been do-
mesticated in Egypt, and perhaps along the southern shores
of the Mediterranean, yet it follows in no degree, that species
or varieties proper to that continent have not been subdued.

HISTORY. 223

Bruce informs us that Buffaloes exist in great numbers in
the woods of Abyssinia. Denham and Clapperton found them
in the kingdom of Bornon, on the lake of Tchad, in the heart
of Africa, and thence innumerable traces of them appear
through all the intermediate countries to the Atlantic. Cap-
tain Lyon mentions three kinds of Buffaloes which are found
in great numbers in the kingdom of Fezzan; the first, an
animal about the size of an Ass, with large head and horns,
a reddish hide, and large bunches of hair hanging from each
shoulder to the length of eighteen inches or two feet, and of
a fierce disposition ; the second about the size of a Cow, red
in colour, slow in its motions, and having large horns ; and
the third a white Buffalo, lighter in shape, and more active
in its motions than the others, and so shy and swift that
it can rarely be obtained. Unfortunately the gallant traveller
gives us no details, and probably merely speaks from common
reports. The information afforded by other travellers re-
garding the Buffaloes of the interior is alike defective. We
merely learn that these animals abound throughout the
forests of Northern and Central Africa ; but of their distinc-
tive characters, no information satisfactory to the naturalist
has yet been afforded.

There is one African species, however, of which we have
authentic accounts, namely, the CAPE BUFFALO, the Bos
Coffer of Sparrman, and admitted by that name into the cata-
logues of naturalists. This formidable animal is found at the
Cape, and extends to an unknown distance into the interior.
He bears a distinct affinity in habits and character with the
Buffalo of Asia, but is yet clearly marked by characters of
his own. He is a large animal, being about five feet and a
half in height at the shoulders, and nine feet long, having
short muscular limbs, and a ponderous head. His horns are
long, thick, and black, spreading over the whole forehead
until the bases nearly touch. The root of these rugged horns,
overhanging the red and piercing eyes of the animal, gives
him a sullen and malignant aspect. His ears are shaggy

224 THE OX.

and pendent, and about a foot in length, and are frequently
found to be jagged and rent by the sharp spines of the dense
and tangled brushwood through which he forces a passage.
The Hottentots believe that the animals belong to demons, and
that the rents in the ears are the marks by which these super-
natural beings distinguish their own cattle. The hide is thick,
black, tough, and covered with wiry hairs. On the throat,
and along the dewlap, is a beard of stiff hairs, and on the
neck and spine a scanty mane : the tail is bare, with a tuft
at its extremity.

These animals dwell in small herds in woods and thickets,
though sometimes they unite in larger bodies, as of 150 or
more together. They delight in moisture, passing hours in
pools of water, and rolling themselves in mud. They are
described by travellers as savage, treacherous, and vindic-
tive. The bull, it is said, will lurk behind the covert of
thickets, and rush on the unwary traveller, whose only hope
of safety is to reach a tree, should one happily be near. He
cannot save himself by flight, for the furious brute quickly
overtakes him, throws him to the earth, tramples upon him
with his feet, and crushes him to death with his knees. Nay,
it is said that, after having mangled his victim, the creature
retires to a distance, and then returns again and again with
increased ferocity, as if to gratify, by repetition, his thirst of
vengeance. The account of the animal's lurking behind
thickets is doubtless incorrect, for it is not the nature of her-
bivorous animals to prey on other creatures from a desire of
blood. And with respect to his treachery and cruelty, it is
to be asked — which, in the eye of humanity and reason, is
the most treacherous and cruel, the traveller and stranger
who steals upon the lonely animal in his native haunt to shed
his blood, or the victim who uses the powers which Nature
has given him to protect himself from slaughter I

Sparrman describes an encounter with several of these
animals on the Great Fish River. The party advanced within
twenty yards of one of them, when, actuated in some degree

HISTORY. 225

by their fears, they discharged their pieces nearly at the
same time. The Buffalo, who had just turned his head round
as if about to assault the intruders, fell on the discharge of
the pieces, but, rising again, ran to the thickest part of the
wood. Supposing that the shot was mortal, the travellers,
in their hurry and ignorance of the danger, followed the ani-
mal into the thicket ; but they found, in the sequel, that the
balls had only struck him on the spine and stunned him, and
been shivered to pieces on the bones. The travellers, now
joined by their Hottentots, endeavoured to find out his re-
treat in the vale below ; but the animal, having recovered
his surprise, came forth of his own accord to the skirts of the
wood, and faced his assailants, who, happily for them, had
the advantage of the higher ground. Three shots were in-
stantly fired, and one, entering the belly, proved mortal.
The Buffalo again retreated to the shelter of the vale, dyeing
the ground and bushes all the way as he went with his blood.
The hunters followed with the utmost caution through the
thin and pervious part of the thicket. Again their victim
advanced to make an attack, but one of the party, from the
place where he was posted, had the fortune to lodge a shot
in the lungs ; yet still the wounded animal had the strength
to make a circuit of 150 paces before he fell. " During his
fall, and before he died," continues the narration, " he bel-
lowed in a most stupendous manner, and this death-song of
his inspired every one of us with joy, on account of the vic-
tory we had gained : and so thoroughly steeled is frequently
the human heart against the sufferings of the brute creation,
that we hastened forward to enjoy the pleasure of seeing the
Buffalo struggle with the pangs of death. I happened to be
foremost among them, and I think it impossible for anguish,
accompanied by a savage fierceness, to be painted in stronger
colours than they were upon the face of this Buffalo. I was
within ten steps of him when he perceived me, and, bellow-
ing, raised himself suddenly again upon his legs." The tra-
veller was so terrified, that, hastily firing his piece, his shot

226 THE OX.

missed the huge animal before him, and he precipitately fled.
But it was all over with the poor Buffalo ; he had made his
last effort ; he had left to his conquerors the happiness of
having shed his blood, by means of deadly weapons, which
all the vast strength and noble courage with which Nature
had endowed him could not enable him to withstand ; he had
left them the privilege of prating of their courage, philosophy,
and love of nature, and of his malignity, cruelty, and vindic-
tiveness.

The same and other travellers give numerous accounts of
their encounters with these strong and fearless creatures.
M. Thunberg informs us, that, when travelling in Caffraria,
he and his companions had just entered a wood, when they
discovered a large old Buffalo, lying quite alone in a little
space free from bushes. The animal no sooner observed the
guide, who went first, than he rushed upon him with a dread-
ful roar. The man was able to turn his horse quickly round
a large tree, when the furious beast rushed upon the next of
the party, and gored his horse so dreadfully in the belly, that
it died soon after. The two men fled to trees, and when the
furious creature rushed on towards the next of the party, a
horse without a rider chanced to be in front : the Buffalo at-
tacked him with such fury, that he drove his horns through
the horse's breast, and out again through the very, saddle.
The horse was thrown to the ground with dreadful violence,
and instantly died. Thunberg, coming up at the moment,
found himself in the way of the enraged animal, but, from
the narrowness of the path, he had no room to turn. He
abandoned his horse, and took refuge in a tree. But the Buf-
falo had now done : on killing the second horse, he turned
suddenly about, and retreated to the covert.

Some Europeans at the Cape, in chase of one of these
animals, pursued him into a narrow path. He turned round,
and rushed upon a man of the party, who plunged into the
stream, and swam off. In an instant the Buffalo followed,
and was close upon him, when the man, to save himself,

HISTORY. 227

dived. He dipped down overhead, and the Buffalo for €he mo-
ment lost sight of him, and swam toward the opposite shore,
three miles distant, and would have reached it, but for a shot
from the gun of a ship, which chanced to be lying at a little
distance.

The following incident is recorded in a periodical work, on
the authority of a Dutch- African farmer, who had been a
witness of the scene fifteen years before. " A party of boors
had gone out to hunt a troop of Buffaloes, which were graz-
ing in a piece of marshy ground, interspersed with groves of
yellow wood and mimosa trees, on the very spot where the
village of Somerset is now built. As they could not con-
veniently get within shot of the game without crossing part
of the valei or marsh, which did not afford a safe passage for
horses, they agreed to leave their steeds in charge of their
Hottentot servants, and to advance on foot, thinking that, if
any of the Buffaloes should turn upon them, it would be easy
to escape by retreating across the quagmire, which, though
passable for man, would not support the weight of a heavy
quadruped. They advanced accordingly, and, under cover of
the bushes, approached the game with such advantage, that
the first volley brought down three of the fattest of thelierd,
and so severely wounded the great bull leader, that he dropped
on his knees, bellowing with pain. Thinking him mortally
wounded, the foremost of the huntsmen issued from the covert,
and began reloading his musket as he advanced, to give him
a finishing shot. But no sooner did the infuriated animal
see his foe in front of him, than he sprang up, and rushed
headlong upon him. The man, throwing down his empty
gun, fled towards the quagmire ; but the savage beast was
so close upon him that he despaired of escaping in that direc-
tion, and turning suddenly round a clump of copse wood, be-
gan to climb an old mimosa tree which stood at one side
of it. The raging beast, however, was too quick for him.
Bounding forward with a roar, which my informant (who was
one of the party) described as being one of the most frightful

228

THE OX.

sounds he ever heard, he caught the unfortunate man with
his horns, just as he had nearly escaped his reach, and tossed
him in the air with such force, that the body fell, dreadfully
mangled, into a lofty cleft of the tree. The Buffalo ran
round the tree once or twice, apparently looking for the man,
until, weakened with loss of blood, he again sunk on his knees.
The rest of the party then, recovering from their confusion,
came up and despatched him, though too late to save their
comrade, whose body was hanging in the tree quite dead." *

These animals, fierce and cruel as they seem, do not cer-
tainly seek occasions for attacking even their deadliest enemy,
Man. Although in herds of great numbers together, and
when they could beat their pursuers to the dust, like reeds,
they invariably seek to save themselves by retreating to the
nearest thickets. The females exhibit the warm attachment
to their offspring which is characteristic of the whole Buba-
line race, and which a beneficent Providence has imprinted
in the bosoms of the rudest creatures. It is for the safety of
the young and females, that the bulls seem to act as the
guardians of the herd. At the season, too, of sexual desire,
numbers of the bulls being expelled by their fellows from the
community, wander about for a season with excited passions,
and then manifest that ferocity which has been witnessed.

The chase of these animals in the forests of tangled brush-
wood which they frequent, is attended with much danger.
Their strong hides resist the rifle ball like a target, and
common balls of lead are flattened when they strike their
bones. For this reason, the balls employed are of great
weight, and alloyed with tin, and even then they are some-
times shattered, as if they had struck a wall of steel. The
Hottentots are extremely dexterous in this dangerous chase,
crawling on their bellies until they reach their victims,
and using, instead of their ancient weapons, the rifles and
long muskets with which their rude masters have supplied

* Penny Magazine, 1832.

HISTORY. 229

them. But the Caffres are in a peculiar degree attached to
this dangerous exercise : they pursue the chase in companies ;
and when an individual discovers the herd, he winds a small
pipe made of the thigh-bone of a Sheep, and his companions
hastening to his aid. they environ the game, and pierce them
with spears. The Bushmen, for the same purpose, use jave-
lins and arrows dipped in poison.

The flesh of these animals is said to be juicy and well-
flavoured. But it is chiefly for their hides that they are
valued by the African hunters and the farmers of the Cape.
These are so thick and tough, that they may be formed into
targets, musket-proof; they are used, too, for whips, and
for the straps of harness, and are said to form the only halters
that can be depended upon for securing horses and oxen,
when picketted in travelling, and alarmed by the stealthy
approach of the Wolf, or the rustle of the Lion.*

The use of fire-arms is rapidly thinning the number of these
powerful creatures within the European territory of the Cape :
they slowly retire to the woods of the interior, where they
can be safe from the dangerous weapons of their destroyers.
Nor is man their only enemy : the Wolf, the Hyaena, and
other fierce creatures, are the inhabitants of the same woods ;
and the Lion, it is said, steals upon and attacks them. The
natives speak of having been witnesses of these murderous
conflicts ; and say, that wounds inflicted by Lions are often
observed in the muzzles and bodies of such Buffaloes as are
killed in the clmse ; and that the carcasses of Lions are some-
times found gored by the terrible horns of the Buffalo. A
question that arises is, can these wild and dangerous animals
be subjected to servitude and domestication ? Sparrman in-
forms us, that he saw a Buffalo calf, taken soon after birth,
grazing amongst the other calves of the farm, and as docile
as any of the herd. He accordingly expresses his belief, that
the Buffalo calves, if taken young and properly trained, might
be broken to the yoke. But the animals should not only be

* Sparr man's Voyage.

230 THE OX.

taken young, but should be born and made to breed in the
state of servitude, in order that it might be fully known what
ultimate changes domestication would produce in their habits,
and to what degree they could be rendered the assistants of
man, instead of being, as now, the victims of his persecution.

The next to be mentioned of the Bovine family is a native
of India. The GAYAL or JUNGLE Ox, the Bos frontalis of
Lambert, inhabits the mountain forests east of the Brahma-
pootra, but doubtless extends far into the dense regions of
forest beyond that noble river. The precise place which
this species occupies amongst the Bovidse has not been sa-
tisfactorily determined. He seems allied to the Bisontine
and Taurine groups, and is probably to be regarded as the
connecting link between them.

The Jungle Ox has the head broad and flat above, and con-
tracting suddenly to the muzzle. The horns are distant,
thick at the base, and slightly compressed, the flat sides be-
ing towards the front and rear ; the ears are long, the eyes
are like those of the Common Ox, the muzzle is destitute of
hairs. A sharp ridge runs from the back part of the neck
and top of the shoulder, along about a third part of the back,
and then suddenly terminates. The sacrum has a consider-
able declination to the tail, making the rump round like that
of a hog. The tail descends to about the hock, is covered
with short hairs, and terminates in a tuft. The prevailing
colour is brown of various shades, and the legs, belly, and
tip of the tail, are white. This animal has a somewhat clumsy
aspect, but is yet possessed of great activity and strength.
He is of the size of an ordinary Ox of this country. He does
not grunt in the manner of the Yak of Tartary, but lows like
the Ox of Europe, although with a shriller and softer tone.

In their wild state, the Gayals seem to be entirely the
inhabitants of a country of dense forest, never, of their own
accord, approaching to the plains ; and this habit they do not
lose in the state of slavery. They delight to roam in the
thickest woods ; they neglect the grasses, and rather love to

HISTORY. 231

browse on shrubs and tender shoots of trees : they repair to
the jungle in search of their natural food, and ruminate under
the shade of trees. They have not the habit of the Yak and
the Buffalo of wallowing in water, but rather, in their habits,
approach to the domestic race. The female goes with young
eleven months : she yields very rich milk, but neither abun-
dant nor lasting : she receives the male of the common race,
and the progeny, it is said, is fruitful.

The Gayals are hunted by certain tribes for their flesh,
but they are also reclaimed to some extent in the East.
They are perfectly docile in their domestic state, and are so
fleet and active, that they may be used for the saddle. Cer-
tain sects in India, it is said, sacrifice this animal to their
gods ; but the Hindoos will not shed the blood of the Gayal ;
their sacred books informing them that the female of the
Gayal is like the Cow, and to be held in the same veneration.

The Taurine group of Bovidae comprehends the DOMESTIC
Ox, Bos Taurus, under its several modifications of varieties
or species. Whether the various members of this group are
to be regarded as species, or merely as modifications of a
common stock, that is, varieties or races, depends upon the
meaning which is to be assigned to these terms. The
Taurine group throughout the world possesses characters of
resemblance, which may allow the naturalists to regard
them as a single species, just as we may so regard the
various races of Dogs : but, at the same time, there are dif-
ferences between the members quite as great as in other
cases are employed to discriminate species. The Zebu of the
East differs as much, in external characters, from the Ox of
Europe, as the Ass from the Zebra ; and there are subor-
dinate races so divergent, that it is" difficult to resist the
conclusion, that the Domesticated Oxen of different parts of
the world have been derived from animals so distinct in the
natural state, that they may either be regarded as species,
or very permanent varieties.

Of the wild species of Ox, we have authentic records of

232

THE OX.

one, at least, which existed in the ancient forests of Europe,
and which, we shall see, is not yet extinct. This animal was
termed Urochs by the older Germans, a word which is de-
rived from Ur, a root common to many languages, and signi-
fying original or old, and ochs, an ox. The Greek and Ro-
man writers employed the term Urus, either borrowed from
the Teutonic, or derived from the same root, Ur, which
entered into the composition of their own Taugof and Taurus.
From the same source are derived the Shur and Tur of the
Hebrew and other languages of the East ; and hence, too,
the Thur of the Poles, the Tyr, Tyer, Stier, Steer, in the
dialects of northern Europe. We find, too, terms derived
from the designation of the bull applied to the names of
countries, mountains, and forests ; as the Turan of Persia,
the Turan of the Caucasus, the Turin of Italy, the Tours of
France, the Thuringian forest, and many more.

The Uri are described by Julius Caesar as existing in the
Hercynian forest, as being little short of elephants in size,
and as being of the kind, colour, and figure of the bull.*
Pliny refers to them as inhabitants of Scythia and Germany,
along with the Bison, adverting, at the same time, to the
vulgar error of confounding the Urus with the Bubalus,
which, says he, was an animal like a Stag brought from
Africa. Solinus repeats the opinion of Pliny. " In the
tract of the Hercynian forest, and in all the northern regions,
are likewise Uri, which the ignorant vulgar term Bubali."
But the great confusion which subsequently took place, was
in confounding the Urus with the Bison, although the dis-
tinction had been drawn by Pliny, Seneca, Pomponius, and
other writers. More modern authors still more distinctly
point out the difference between those animals. Thus, Lau-
rentius, in his commentaries on the affairs of his own time,
writes : " In Lithuania there are Bisons, Uri, and likewise
Elks : those are in error who call the Bisons, Uri ; for the

* In Sylva Hercyniae nascuntur qui appellantur Uri. Hi sunt magnitudine
paulo infra Klephantos, specie et colore et figura Tauri.— De Belh Gallico.

HISTORY. 233

Bisons differ from the Uri, which have the form of an Ox,
in having manes, and long hairs about the neck, in having a
beard hanging from the chin, and in smelling of musk." In
an ancient poem on a hunting match near Worms, we have
a distinct account of the number of Bisons, Uri, and Elks,
which were respectively slain ; and various chroniclers refer
to the hunting of the ancient Uri in the forests of Europe.
Heberstein, De Rebus Muscov., and Martin Cromer, De Situ
Polonise, writers of the sixteenth century, describe the dis-
tinction between the Bison or Zubr of the Poles, and the
Thur of the same nation ; and Anthony Schneibergen de-
scribes the Thur as differing from the domestic race only in
size and colour. Yet, in the middle ages, Albertus Magnus,
and other writers, fell into the error of confounding those
animals ; and several German writers applied the term
Urochs or Auerochs, the undoubted designation of their own
Urus, to the Bison ; and modern naturalists, in opposition to
the testimony of the older writers, are yet found to maintain
the same error.*

* Fossil skulls have been found in various parts of Europe resembling those
of the domestic races, and differing from them only in size. But these bones
indicate an animal greatly surpassing in magnitude any of the modern races
of cattle. They are usually about one-third or more larger in linear size,
indicating an animal nearly three times the bulk of the oxen of the present
time. Their remains are found in the same alluvial deposites as those of
the Elephant, and other large animals which formerly inhabited Europe, prov-
ing that they lived at the same era : they are found likewise in the pame situa-
tions as the great extinct Irish Elk, and thus seem to have survived various
species with which they were associated, and even, perhaps, to have survived
till within the historic era. A question, however, which has been agitated by
naturalists is, Whether these huge animals are the origin of the domestic races,
and may not even have been the Uri described by Caesar ? The question is one
which bears less than is assumed upon the origin of the existing races. We
can, bv all the evidence which the question admits of, trace existing races to
the ancient Uri which, long posterior to the historical era, inhabited the forests
of Germany, Gaul, Britain, and other countries. It is a question involving an
entirely different series of considerations, whether these Uri were themselves
descended from an anterior race, surpassing them in magnitude, and inhabit-
ing the globe at the same time with other extinct species. While there is
nothing that can directly support this hypothesis, there is nothing certainly
founded on analogy that can enable us to invalidate it. There is nothing more

234 THE OX.

The Uri of the forests of Europe seem to have rapidly
decreased in numbers, with the progress of settlement and
cultivation in different countries. Anthony Fitzstephen, who
wrote in the latter part of the reign of Henry II., describes
them as then abounding in the great forests round London.
John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, who wrote in 1598, states that
the Wild Ox, which he terms Bos Sylvestris, was found in
the woods of Scotland ; that it was of a white colour, had a
thick mane resembling a lion's ; that it was wild and savage,
and, when irritated, rushed upon the hunters, overthrew the
horses, and despised the attacks of the fiercest dogs. He
says that it had formerly abounded in the Sylva Caledonia,
but was then only to be found at Stirling, Cumbernauld, and
Kincardine.

Hector Boece, in his History and Chronicles of Scotland,
bears testimony to the like effect : — " At this toun" (namely
Stirling), " began the grit wod of Calidon. This wod of
Calidon ran fra Striveling throw Menteith and Stratherne,
to Atholl and Lochquabir, as Ptolome writtis in his first
table. In this wod wes sum time quhit bullis, with crisp and
curland mane, like feirs lionis, and thoucht thay semit meek
and tame in the remanent figure of thair bodyis, thay wer
mair wild than ony uthir beistis, and had sic hatrent aganis
the societe and cumpany of men, that thay come nevir in the
wodis, nor lesuris quhair thay fand ony feit or haind thairof,

incredible in the supposition, that animals should diminish in size, with changes
in the condition of the earth, than that they should be extinguished altogether,
and supplanted by new species. The fossil Urus inhabited Europe when a very
different condition existed with regard to temperature, the supplies of vege-
table food, and the consequent development of animal forms. Why should not
the Urus, under these conditions, have been a far larger animal than he subse-
quently became? We know by experience the effects of food in increasing or
diminishing the size of this very race of animals. The great Ox of the Lin-
colnshire fens exceeds in size the little Ox of Barbary or the Highland Hills,
as much as the fossil Urus exceeded the larger Oxen of Germany and England ;
and we cannot consider it as incredible, that an animal which inhabited Europe
when Elephants found food and a climate suited to their natures, should have
greatly surpassed in magnitude the same species under the present conditions
of the same countries.

HISTORY. 235

any mony dayis eftir, thay eit nocht of the herbis that wer
twichit or handillit be men. Thir bullis wer sa wild, that
thay wer nevir tane but slight and crafty laubour, and sa
impacient that, eftir thair taking, they deit for importable
doloure. Alse sone as ony man invadit thir bullis, they
ruschit with so terrible preis on him, that they dang him to
the eird, takand na feir of houndis, scharp lancis, nor uthir
maist penitrive wapinnis.'' " And thoucht thir bullis wer
bred in sindry boundis of the Calidon Wod, now, be conti-
wal hunting and lust of insolent men, thay are distroyit in
all partis of Scotland, and nane of thaim left bot allanerlie
in Cumarnald." *

In this their last retreat, they were subjected to persecu-
tion : — In a remarkable document written in 1570-71, the
writer, describing the aggressions of the King's party, com-
plains of the destruction of the Deer in the forest of Cum-
bernauld, " and the quhit ky and bullis of the said forrest, to
the gryt destructione of polecie, and hinder of the common-
weill. For that kynd of ky and bullis he bein kepit thir
money zeiris in the said forrest, and the like was not man-
tenit in ony vther partis of the He of Albion." t

Thus were the Uri of the Scottish forests driven from the
woods 'which they inhabited, destroyed, or made captive.
Part, indeed, had been preserved in some of the parks at-
tached to the religious houses, their flesh being more esteemed
than that of " their awin tame bestial." But, with the de-
struction of the Ancient Establishments, the oxen were
dispersed, destroyed, or mingled with the common races.
In a few places only they seem to have been preserved
without intermixture, — chiefly in the Parks of the Dukes
of Queensberry at Drumlanrig, and of the Dukes of Ha-
milton, called the Chace of Cadzow. Those at Drumlanrig
were, many years ago, destroyed by an order of the late

* History and Chronicles of Scotland, by Hector Boece, translated by John
Ballenden.

f Illustrations of Scottish History, preserved from Manuscripts, by Sir John
Graham Dalyell, Bart.

236 THE OX.

Duke of Queensberry : those at the noble park of Hamilton
are yet in existence, preserved with care. They have lost
the thick mane ascribed to them by the early writers, and
the females have generally become destitute of horns ; but
all their other characters shew them indubitably to be the
descendants of the ancient race. They are of the size of the
cattle of the West Highlands: they are of a dun white
colour ; and the muzzle, the inside of the ears, the tongue, and
the hoofs, are black. They are very wild, and cautious of being
approached ; and when suddenly come upon, they scamper
off, turn round as if to examine the intruder, and generally
gallop in circles, as if meditating an attack. They are not,
however, vicious, though some of the bulls have manifested
the savage and dogged temper of their race. Some persons
have been pursued to trees. One poor bird-catcher, we are
informed by Mr Patrick, when exercising his trade in the
forest, was attacked by a savage bull : he had time to save
himself by climbing up a tree ; and he had there an opportu-
nity of observing the habits of his assailant. The furious
creature seemed to quiver with rage, and frequently attacked
the tree with his head and hoofs. Finding his efforts vain, he
left off the attempt, and began to browse at some distance.
The prisoner then tried to descend, that he mightjmake his
escape ; but the watchful brute was at his post in an instant,
and the poor man was not relieved until after many hours,
on assistance arriving. Another individual was attacked on
a summer evening : he was fortunate in reaching a tree, but
was watched by the implacable brute throughout the whole
night, and until late on the following day. These examples
are remarkable, shewing, in the Wild Ox, that savage, per-
tinacious, and implacable temper, which we know some others
of the Bovine family display in their state of nature. The
females conceal their calves amongst thickets or long grass,
returning to them cautiously twice or thrice in the day, to
suckle them. The little creatures exhibit the instincts of
their race: when suddenly approached, they manifest extreme
trepidation, throwing their ears close back upon their necks,

HISTORY. 237

and squatting upon the ground. The only method of killing
the older animals is by shooting them. When the keepers ap-
proach for that purpose, the poor creatures seem to be aware
of their danger : they gallop away with speed in a dense mass,
preserving, we are informed, a profound silence, and keeping
close by the coverts and fences : the cows, in the mean time,
that have calves forsake the herd, and repair to the places
where their young are concealed, in order to defend them.

The remains of the same remarkable race are to be found
in several parks in England, differing only from those de-
scribed in so far as differences of situation may be supposed
to have affected their characters. Of these, the most re-
markable are those kept in the ancient park of Chillingham,
the property of the Earl of Tankerville. These appear to
have remained the nearest in their characters to the original
race. The herd at present amounts to about eighty in num-
ber, consisting of about twenty-five bulls, forty cows, and
fifteen steers. The eye-lashes and tips of the horns are
black, the muzzle is brown, the inside and a portion of the
external part of the ears are reddish-brown, and all the rest
of the animal is white. The bulls have merely the rudiments
of manes, consisting of a ridge of coarse hairs upon the neck.
The bulls fight for supremacy, and the vanquished submit to
the law of superior strength. They are very shy and wild,
and start off on the approach of danger; and, when they
threaten an attack, they make circles around the object, ap-
proaching nearer at each time. Lord Tankerville describes
their method of retreat, which is eminently characteristic of
their wild habits. Like the Red Deer, they place the in-
equalities of the ground between them and their pursuers :
they set off in a kind of walk, which increases to a trot, and
then, having got the ground between them and the object,
they retreat at a gallop, availing themselves of the inequali-
ties of the ground in such a manner, that they will traverse
the whole park almost without being seen. The females
conceal their young, returning to suckle them several times

238 THE OX.

a-day. The calves have the instinctive wildness of the
parents, couching on the ground like fawns, when surprised.
It is said that, when one of the herd is wounded, or disabled
from age, the rest will set upon and destroy it ; a trait com-
mon to other ruminants, — to the Deer, — and even to the
Sheep, in its wildest and rudest state. These animals can
be all readily domesticated. When taken young, and treated
in the manner of the common oxen, they assume entirely the
habits of the domestic race.

One circumstance common to both the herds of Wild Oxen
referred to, is the tendency of the young to deviate from the
" marking," as it is termed, of the parents ; that is, to be-
come altogether black, or altogether white, or to have black
ears in place of red ears, and so on : these animals are de-
stroyed, and, therefore, the interesting part of the experi-
ment is interrupted, of shewing what characters they would
assume, were they to be left in the natural state. Nothing
is better known to breeders than that, by such means, all the
characters of colour can be produced in any breed ; thus the
North Devon can be kept all red, the Pembroke all black,
and so on ; and this is done from generation to generation,
by the course pursued in the case of these wild herds.

The other parks of England in which the remains of this
race have been, or are yet, preserved, are at Chartley, in
Staffordshire, at Wollaton in Nottinghamshire, at Gisburne
in Craven, at Limehall in Cheshire, at Kibbesdale in York-
shire, and at Burton Constable in Yorkshire.

The wild cattle at Chartley Park, the -property of Lord
Ferrers, resemble those at Chillingham, but they are of larger
size, and have the muzzles and ears black. They frequently
tend to become entirely black ; and a singular superstition
prevails in the vicinity, that, when a black calf is born, some
calamity impends over the noble house of Ferrers. All the
black calves are destroyed ; and thus, as in other cases, we
are unable to know what ultimate character of colour the race
would assume. This park is a very ancient one : it belonged

HISTORY. 239

to Devereux, Earl of Essex, and the cattle have existed in it
from time immemorial.

Those which are kept at Bibbesdale are destitute of horns.
The breed at Burton Constable, situated in the district of
Holderness, perished all in the course of the last century, of
an epidemic disorder. They were of large size, — a conse-
quence of the richness of the pasture in which they fed.
They had the ears, muzzle, and tip of the tail, black.

Other herds of this race appear to have existed in different
parts of England, but they have merged in the common
breeds of the country, and the records of them have been
lost. Fortunately, however, for the inquiries of the natu-
ralist, the same animals are yet to be found in that part of
the kingdom where we naturally should look for the exist-
ence of an indigenous race of cattle, namely, Wales, under
such circumstances as to set at rest the questions that have
been agitated regarding the relation which exists between
them and the domestic race.

The ancient Britons, it is known, when their country was
overwhelmed by the Roman power, made a brave defence in
the mountains beyond the Severn, preserving their flocks
and herds, in all times the cherished possession of the Celtic
nations. Although overrun for a season by the Roman
legions, they defended themselves against the Saxon nations
with determined courage, and only yielded at length, at a
long posterior period, to the English power, when it became
too strong to be resisted ; and even then they retained their
customs, their language, and their national feelings. It is
here, as in the countries beyond the Grampians, that we must
look for the older races of the domestic oxen of the country.

It appears from various notices, that a race of cattle,
similar to that which we now find at Chillingham Park and
elsewhere, existed in Wales in the 10th century. Howell
Dha, surnamed the Good, describes certain cattle of Wales
as being white, and having red ears. At a subseqent period,
we are informed that, as a compensation" for offences com-

240 THE ox.

mitted against certain Princes of Wales, there were de-
manded 100 white cows with red ears ; but that, if the cattle
were of a black colour, 150 were to be given. When the
Princes of Wales were compelled to render homage to the
ICings of England, the same kinds of cattle, we are in-
formed, were sometimes rendered in acknowledgment of the
sovereignty. In an old history of Flanders, quoted by Holm-
shed, it is stated that the lady of the Lord de Breuse, in
order to appease King John, whom she and her husband had
mortally offended, sent to the Queen a present of 400 kine and
one bull, all of white colour except the ears, which were red.

The individuals of this race yet existing in Wales are
found chiefly in the county of Pembroke, where they have
been kept by some individuals perfectly pure, as a part of
their regular farm-stock. Until a period comparatively
recent, they were very numerous ; and persons are yet living
in the county of Pembroke, who remember when they were
driven in droves to the pastures of the Severn, and the neigh-
bouring markets. Their whole essential characters are the
same as those at Chillingham and Chartley Park, and else-
where. Their horns are white, tipped with black, and ex-
tended and turned upwards in the manner distinctive of the
wild breed. The inside of the ears and the muzzle are black,
and their feet are black to the fetlock joint. Their skin is
unctuous, and of a deep-toned yellow colour. Individuals of
this race are sometimes born entirely black, and then they are
not to be distinguished from the common cattle of the moun-
tains.

The same race has been found in several parts of the
Continent of Europe. In Italy a few herds have been pre-
served. In the North of Sweden, the race can yet be dis-
tinguished amongst the reclaimed cattle of the country. In
the denies of the Pyrenees, they have been observed by
English sportsmen, altogether wild, and marked in the same
manner as the cattle of the parks, and in no respect to be
distinguished from them.

HISTORY. 241

The peculiar colour and marking which this race assumes
and retains in the English parks, has been supposed by some
to indicate a distinction of species, But colour, as is well
known to naturalists, is one of the external characters of ani-
mals the least to be regarded as indicative of specific dis-
tinctions ; and, in the case of these oxen, it has been seen that
the character itself is not constant. It may seem remark-
able that these animals, in their wild state, should be all
white, with coloured muzzles and ears ; but this is not
more remarkable than that Boars, in the wild state, should
be brown, or Turkeys in the wild state black, with white
tips to their wings. The colour, we may suppose, is that
which the animals tended to assume in a wooded country in
the climate of Albion. Under other conditions of tempera-
ture and food, the colour of the same variety might become
black, with a peculiar marking equally constant. An ancient
writer, speaking of Uri in the woods of Poland, describes
them as black, with a white streak along the chine. In the
North Highlands of Scotland, the prevailing colour of the
cattle is black : but sometimes individuals are born white,
with coloured ears and muzzle, so nearly resembling the Wild
Cattle of the parks, that they would be mistaken for them.

The habits of the wild race have been supposed to present
an impassable distinction between it and the tame ; but this
difference assuredly does not constitute a distinction of species.
It is known that the instincts and habits of animals are suited
to the condition in which they are placed, and change with
-that condition. The Wild Hog, a bold and powerful creature
in his state of liberty, is no sooner submitted to domestica-
tion, than his habits adapt themselves to his new condition,
and he communicates to his offspring all the habits which
fit them for a state of slavery ; and so it is with other
animals subjected to domestication. The Wild Oxen of
the parks, breeding solely with one another, and living, in
so far as their confined condition will allow, in the natural

242 THE OX.

state, retain the habits and instincts proper to them in that
condition, and communicate these to their young. Hence
the young calves couch themselves on the ground, and
tremble when approached ; but these characters disappear
in the next generation, when the animals are domesticated :
hence the mothers conceal their calves, and return to suckle
them at stated times ; but the same thing has been observed in
the case of cows of the Scotch mountains, when left in a state
of liberty. All the habits of these animals, in short, includ-
ing that of goring to death their wounded companions, are
those of the wild'state, and disappear when they are reclaimed.
Thus we have all the evidence which the question admits
of, that no real distinction exists between the Wild Oxen of
the parks, and those which have for ages been subjected to
domestication in the same country ; and that these Wild
Oxen are no other than the Uri of the ancient forests of Eu-
rope.— That the wild of the Bos Taurus inhabited, in like
manner, the woods of Western Asia, may, from analogy, be
inferred. The Scriptures speak of Wild Oxen, as distin-
guished from those that are tame ; and the Arabian poets
abound with allusions to the hunting of the Wild Bull, J)ut
do not afford data for determining whether this was the
Urus, the Bison, or any other species.

The Ox has been domesticated from the earliest records
of human society, and may be deemed to have been an in-
strument, under Providence, for leading men from the savage
state. Although endowed with vast physical powers, his
instinct leads him to yield up his faculties to the service of
man, by assisting him in bearing burdens, and tilling the
earth ; and in every age his patient docility has been applied
to these ends. The wealth of the first people was their
flocks and herds : " And Abram was very rich in cattle, in
silver, and in gold; and he went on his journeys from the
south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at
the beginning, between Bethel and Hai, unto the place of the

HISTORY. 243

altar which he had made there at the first ; and there Abram
called on the name of the Lord ; and Lot also, which went
with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents." And in the
case of all the early nations of which we read, the Ox was
amongst the valued possessions of the people. He was a me-
dium of traffic, and his image came at length to be stamped
upon the metals used as money. His flesh was usually per-
mitted to be eaten, though, in certain cases, the use of it
was limited, or altogether forbidden, as when he was em-
ployed in labour, or when his numbers were few, as in the
earlier stages of societies. The Hindoos were forbidden to
shed his blood at all ; the Egyptians were only permitted to
do so at sacrifices ; and other nations were compelled to
equal abstinence. The Jews were suffered to partake of his
flesh freely, on the condition, simply, that the firstling of the
herd should be dedicated to the Lord, and that no part of the
blood should be tasted ; but the Jews were naturally abste-
mious in the use of animal food, and such of the calves as
were not killed, were mostly brought up for the purposes of
labour, or the yielding of milk.

History, sacred and profane, evinces to us in what estima-
tion this gift of Providence has been held in every age. The
Bull became one of the signs of the Zodiac in the earliest
period of nations. He formed an object of adoration to
people of the East, as he yet does to their descendants, after
the lapse of an unknown period. The Egyptians made him
the subject of a preposterous worship, as did the Lybians and
other ancient nations ; and he entered largely into the my-
thological systems of Greece and Rome. Independently,
too, of religious feeling, a certain respect was manifested
towards the Ox, on account of the services he rendered. The
precept of the Jewish law, " Thou shalt not muzzle the
ox when he treadeth out the corn," which likewise is a
precept of the Hindoo law, was an observance founded on
tenderness towards the animal, as well as an expression
of thankfulness at this the crowning labour of the har-

244

THE OX.

vest. The rustic writers of the Romans, in their lessons
on the treatment of the labouring Ox, shew how much of
real humanity entered into their feelings regarding this
ancient and docile assistant of the husbandman. They
direct that the length of .the furrow shall not exceed 120
paces, or else that the oxen shall have a time for breath-
ing allowed them before they are urged to renewed eiforts.
The ploughman is required to shift the yoke, that their backs
may not be galled, — to moisten their mouths with water,
and to strengthen them with wine when they are suffering
from fatigue. Even the safeguard of the laws was thrown
around these humble servants of the farm. To destroy them
wantonly was a public crime. A Roman citizen, we are
informed by Pliny, was condemned to exile, because he had
killed his labouring ox, to gratify the appetite of a capricious
boy ; and other examples are on record, to testify how greatly
the useful services of the Ox were valued. The Celtic na-
tions of Europe seem to have possessed somewhat of the
same sentiments, mixed with religious feelings. Even to
our own day, certain superstitious remembrances are attached
to the Red Cow, whose milk is believed to be a charm for
certain ailments.

The Ox contributes to human support, by other means than
his strength employed in labour, or his body rendered to us
when dead. The female yields her milk in quantity not only
sufficient to rear her own offspring, but to afford a salutary
food to her protectors. She gives it with a facility and in
an abundance unknown in the case of any other animal.
While most of the mammalia will refuse to yield their milk
unless their young be suffered to partake of it, the Cow gives
it beyond the period of maternal solicitude as freely as when
her young is before her eyes. She is every where docile,
patient, and gentle. She remains quiescent with the herd,
or shares with humbleness her portion of the shed which is
their common shelter. She obeys the commands of her keeper,
and recognises the milkmaid's voice.

HISTORY. 245

While the female is thus gentle and humble, the bull re-
tains much of the natural fierceness of his race. He scarcely
fears an enemy, and is easily excited to rage. He can be
reduced to subjection by the effects of discipline, and made
to assist in all the labours of the field ; but yet his passions
are often suddenly excited, and his great strength may be
dangerously exerted. But, by depriving him of his virile
powers, all the native ferocity of his race disappears, and he
becomes as submissive as the heifer. It is then that he gives
us the benefit of his vast strength, exempt from the danger of
his natural temperament, bending his neck to patient toil,
and grazing with content in his allotted pastures.

We are apt to associate with the character of this useful
creature, ideas of apathy, and want of intelligence. But the
brain of the Ox is larger than that of the Horse ; and, though
he is far inferior to that noble creature in spirit and grace,
it is questionable if he falls short of him in sagacity. The
bull has been known to charge himself with the guardianship
of the herd, to keep them from wandering into forbidden
pastures, and to protect from intruders their allotted bound-
aries. When beasts of prey approach, he is at the post of
danger, marshalling the herd into a phalanx, and placing the
young in the centre and rear.

When the season of sexual desire arrives, fierce combats
ensue between the rival bulls. Their eyes sparkle with rage,
and they rush upon one another with desperate force. But
their fury is given, not for the purpose of mutual destruction,
but for an end connected with the preservation of the health
and vigour of the race. It is necessary that the strongest
males should propagate the race, to preserve it from feebleness
and degeneracy. They contend with the powerful strength
and arms with which Nature has supplied them, for the mas-
tery of the herd. But they do not seek to shed each other's
blood. The vanquished yield to the law of superior strength,
and the most powerful assumes his fitting place.

In the vast plains of South America, where the emanci-

24G THE OX.

pated herds have regained a certain degree of natural liberty,
travellers have observed that, when a bullock has been slain
for food, the herd surround the murderers of their comrade,
and express, by loud cries and groans, their sympathy and
sorrow, while tears have seemed to roll from their eyes. They
cannot know why the blood of their fellow should be shed,
and his body mangled ; but they shew that nature has not
rendered them insensible to the sufferings of their comrades.
When the Ox is merely a beast to* be fattened and destroy-
ed,— when he neither shares the toils of his master, nor par-
ticipates in his regards, — when his instincts have been blunt-
ed, without instruction having been supplied, — he does indeed
seem to become the stupid and insensible brute which we
hold him to be. What need has he of intelligence in order
that he may be tied to the stall, or driven to his pasture, and
back again to the slaughter-house I Nature is sparing of her
mental gifts, giving to each creature that which fits it for its
condition. What, to the victim of our gluttony and avarice,
destined to unnatural repletion at the stall that he may be
fattened in the shortest time, and doomed to die a cruel
death, would avail the gifts of consciousness of danger, doci-
lity, and the knowledge of what is good for him ? His brief
life would be the more embittered, and the bounties of Na-
ture would be a cruel present. But let us look at those wild
Oxen which have never been reduced to slavery, as the Uri
of our parks, or the European Oxen, which, in the fertile wil-
derness of the New World, have regained their liberty, and
we shall find a creature altogether different from the stupid
and insensible slave whom we have degraded. We shall find
him wary of danger, resolute in his defence against the beasts
of prey, agile and swift, arid calling into action all his instincts
for his own defence, and braving death that he may protect
the feeble of his herd. Nay, let us regard him, even in his
enslaved condition, but when human reason has aided him
with a ray of light, and we shall see him become almost as
docile as a dog, guarding the property of his master, nay, so

HISTORY. 247

far departing from his natural habits, as to mingle, for his
master's sake, in scenes of strife and bloodshed.

In the vast regions of Southern Africa, peopled by tribes
of warriors and herdsmen, cattle abound and multiply, and
form the wealth of the little communities. The simple and
patient Hottentots, while yet they had a country which they
could call their own, were rich in this kind of possession ;
and even yet, after generations of servitude, retain the habits
and feelings of their nomadic'state. The tending of cattle is
still the favourite employment of their lives. They know the
individuals of the herd, and address them by their names.
They had their backleys, or trained oxen, of which each kraal
had at least six : they were selected from those which seemed
the most capable of receiving instruction, and when one died
or became unserviceable from age, another was chosen with
due solemnity by the elders of the tribe to supply its room.
They were taught to become the guardians of the flocks and
herds of the little community ; and they kept watch against the
attacks of beasts of prey. The Hysena, we are told, however
hungry, would not venture to attack a flock guarded by two or
three of these courageous creatures, which, when in sufficient
numbers, would even make head against the Lion in defence
of their charge. They kept watch against the robbers of other
tribes. They knew all the inhabitants of the kraal, men,
women, and children, and manifested towards them the same
respect which a dog displays to those who live in the house
of his master. Whilst, therefore, there was no inhabitant of
the kraal who might not with safety have approached the
flocks, yet, should a stranger have attempted to do so, and
especially a European, without being accompanied by a Hot-
tentot, he would have been in great danger : the backleys
would have come upon him at speed, and, unless he had fire-
arms to defend himself, or had the means of escape to a tree,
or was within reach of the shepherds, he would surely have
been killed.* Not only were these backleys employed to be

* Ivolben, vol. i.

248 THE OX,

the guides and protectors of the common flock, but others
were trained for the purposes of war. Even still, these war-
oxen are used by the Caffres and independent tribes of the in-
terior. They are taught to share the fierce passions of their
masters ; to rush upon the opposing ranks, trample the men
under their feet, and gore them with their horns.*

Nothing seems more unlike the dull and apathetic tem-
perament of the Ox than a love of distinction ; yet that a feel-
ing akin to this may exist, appears from a curious fact fre-
quently mentioned. In the mountains of Switzerland, where
a beautiful race of cows is reared, it is the practice to attach
bells to the most trusty of the cows, that the sound may keep
the herd together, and direct the herdsman to the place
where they are pasturing. These cows are the pride of the
cowkeeper: he has various sets of these bells, and on cer-
tain occasions, the favourite cow has the finest and largest
bell assigned to her, and the gayest trappings : the others
have inferior bells, and less ornamented collars, in a gra-
dation downwards to those to which no distinction is awarded.
To deprive the cows of their wonted ornaments is to inflict
upon them a punishment wrhich they grievously feel, mani-
festing their sense of humiliation by piteous lowings. On
gala days, a kind of procession takes place ; the herdsman is
in the van, and next in order comes the favourite cow, lead-
ing the herd, ornamented with her tinkling bells, and gay
apparel. Should another, from any cause, be made to take
her place, she manifests her vexation by continued lowing,
abstains from food, and attacks with fury the rival that has
gained her honours. A certain cow, M. Latrobe informs us,
who had long borne the badge of distinction, had just given
birth to a calf, and was reckoned too feeble to bear her usual
post in the honours of the day, and even the ordinary bell was
thought to be too heavy for her. The gay procession moved
on, but the poor cow that had been stripped of her accus-
tomed honours did not share in the general joy : after a few

* Le Vaillant, vol. ii.

HISTORY. . 249

steps she faltered in her pace : the attendants tried to coax
her on, but in vain : she stopped, and at length lay down as
if to die. An old herdsman soon divined the cause : he
brought from the house a bell and collar, such as she had
been used to bear : she no sooner felt the well-known appen-
dage at her neck than she rose from the ground, bounded
gaily, as if in possession of her usual health, and, taking her
place in the van, was, from that moment, as well as ever.
It is known, that a practice of the mountain peasants of
Switzerland, is to collect the herds by sounding a long wooden
pipe, whose deep and simple tones, mellowed by distance,
delight the ear. No sooner does the well-known sound reach
the herd, than they all obey the signal, and hasten to the
place of rendezvous. Should one, from any cause, as from
falls or weakness, be unable to keep pace with her fellows,
she utters loud and painful lowings, as if calling for assist-
ance, and testifying that it is want of power, and not of will,
that makes her linger behind her comrades. The simple
tones of the herdsman's pipe form the well-known air of the
Ranz de Yaches, which is known to thrill like a charm to the
heart of the mountain Swiss, when distant from his beloved
land.

Such is the creature which reason and conscience teach us
to treat with humanity and justice. It is painful to say that ,
it is too often made the victim of wanton cruelty. Who has
not heard of those barbarous sports which are yet practised
in the southern countries of Europe, where the bull, brought
into the arena, is roused to phrensy, and put to a cruel
death I The bull-fights of Spain and Italy are yet the de-
light of all conditions of people in those countries, and afford
the evidence of the power of habit to blunt the most natural
feelings, and reconcile us to the most revolting spectacles.

Throughout the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal are ex-
tensive forests, in^which large herds of cattle find support,
almost in a state of natural wildness. It is from these herds
that the fiercest and strongest bulls are obtained, by a kind

250 THE OX.

of hunting, nearly as dangerous as the subsequent combat in
which the victims are to engage. The country people, from
great distances, assemble, mounted on horseback as best they
can, and armed with long staves, terminated by long spikes.
Lines being formed, they surround the herd, and endeavour
to separate the bulls. This they do by galloping to a bull,
and goading him with their ' spikes ; the animal, enraged,
turns upon his assailant, and pursues him ; but another
horseman attacking him in a similar manner, the animal
turns upon his new enemy, who is in like manner relieved,
and so on, until at length the bull, tired out and bewildered,
is separated from his fellows. A sufficient number having
been treated in this manner, they are hemmed in by the
armed horsemen, and goaded forward to the town or place
where the future combat is to take place.*

The fights of the Circus itself have been described by all
travellers who have visited these beautiful countries. The
bull, admitted into the arena, is received with the shouts of
the assembled spectators. Bewildered and amazed, he rushes
forward, but is at once confronted by the Picadore on foot,
armed with short darts. The animal rushes wildly on his
opponent, who, with matchless dexterity and grace, avoids
the onset, and plants his short darts in the neck and body of
the victim. Bellowing with rage and pain, the wounded ani-
mal gallops round the slaughter-house, and is confronted by
other Picadores with the like success, until the spectators,
satiated, permit him to be relieved from persecution, or direct
him to be slain. But, in other cases, armed horsemen enter
the lists, and attack the bull with lances. In this manner,
the youthful cavaliers display, to the best advantage, their
courage and address. But this sport is more dangerous and
bloody than the other, for often one or more horses are mor-
tally wounded, while shouts and screams of joy attest the
delight of the spectators. In modern Rome, the same sports

• Library of Entertaining Knowledge. Menageries.

HISTORY. 251

are practised, though with somewhat less of inhumanity than
in Spain.* The bulls are of the fine race of the Campagna
di Roma, which are of larger size than those of Spain. They
are cruelly baited, but never put to death, though the less
manly practice is sometimes adopted of setting upon them
with large dogs, chiefly of the Corsican breed, which pin the
bulls by the ears and lips. The dogs, however, are often
the victims, the infuriated bulls catching them with their
long horns, tossing them in the air, and goring them to
death.

The Ox, in certain cases, regains his liberty, and multi-
plies in the natural state. Thus, in the forests of Spain and
Portugal, emancipated oxen, it has been said, are numerous.
They have become more wild, swift, and wary, but have not
deviated from the external characters of the subdued race.
When taken, and reduced to captivity, they soon reassume
the general habits of the domesticated breeds. In Italy,
great numbers of cattle may be said to be nearly wild : they
are the inhabitants of those flat and pestilential tracts which
stretch between the Appenines and the sea, from Naples,
northward, including the well-known Campagna di Roma.
To this dreary tract is applied the general term Maremma,
which, during a period of the year, is the abode of pestilence
and death, and is thinly strewed with inhabitants, the vic-
tims of terrible diseases. The cattle are under the charge
of armed herdsmen, who, when the animals are to be taken
to the towns, pursue them on horseback, fasten them to one
another by the horns, and goad them onward with their long
spears.

But it is in the fertile plains of South America, that the phe-
nomenon presents itself, on the grandest scale, of the escape
of oxen from captivity, and of their multiplication in the
state of nature. The origin of those amazing herds which
cover the plains of Paraguay, Buenos Ayres, and other noble
provinces, is traced, by Spanish writers, to the arrival, by the
way of Brazil, of seven cows and a bull from Andalusia, at

252 THE OX.

the city of Assumption, on the Paraguay, in the year 1556.
The owner of these animals having driven them overland to
the Great Rio Grange or Parana, constructed a rude raft,
and entrusted them to the care of one Gaete, who descended
the Parana, and then, ascending the Paraguay, landed his
precious charge at the city of Assumption. As his re-
compense for many months of toil and danger, Gaete re-
ceived one cow, which gave rise to the saying, common
in these provinces, that a thing is as dear as Gaete's cow.
Whether all the vast herds of South America are derived
from this humble source, may be questioned. But however
this be, it is certain that the cattle of Europe soon multi-
plied amazingly, found their way to the woods and rich
Pampas, where they increased in the state of liberty, and
now extend in countless multitudes from the southern
boundary of Buenos Ayres, to far within the tropics to the
north, stretching, in many cases, from the Atlantic to the
Cordilleras. They are found in the Brazilian as well as in
the Spanish provinces, in the wild as well as in a domesti-
cated state, and have extended beyond the Andes into the
beautiful countries on the Pacific, where they are reared in
the state of domestication. But it is in the more temperate
parts of Paraguay, and the countries of the Rio de la Plata,
extending westward, that their numbers have become the
greatest, and that those marvellous herds of them are to
be beheld, which have escaped entirely from the dominion of
man, and fly from his presence like beasts of chase. They
migrate in search of fresh pastures with the changes of the
season, the strongest of the bulls assuming the guidance of
the herd. They have deviated little from the Andalusian
type, except that they have assumed a greater uniformity of
colour, and that the bulls exhibit less of ferocity and bold-
ness, as is common with other animals naturalized in Ame-
rica. Their colour is a blackish-brown ; their size is nearly
the same as in the original race, exceeding it in the more
temperate countries, and falling short of it in the warmer. The

HISTORY. 253

power of the female to yield milk constantly diminishes with
the heat of the climate, until, at the tropics, it does not
amount to one-third of the ordinary quantity. They are
reclaimed with such facility, that the wildest herds may be
domesticated in a month. They are hunted for their hides
by people of the country, or Gauchos, who pursue them on
horseback at speed, forming two lines, meeting at an angle
in the rear. The person who is behind at the angle or meet-
ing of the lines, is armed with a sharp instrument, of a cres-
cent-shape, fixed to a long handle. With this he hamstrings
the oxen as he comes up to them, the party all the time con-
tinuing the pursuit. When a sufficient number have been
maimed, and left on the ground, the party returns, the prin-
cipal hunter piercing the prostrate oxen with a spear, and
others instantly dismounting, and stripping off the hide : the
carcasses are left as of no value, to be devoured by vultures
and other beasts of prey.

Those cattle which are in a semi-domesticated state, and
are the property of individuals, are kept in large herds. They
are under the charge of a superintendent with several assist-
ants, whose province it is to prevent them from straying,
to protect them from the Jaguars, and other beasts of prey,
and to catch those which are to be slaughtered. They are
caught by means of the well-known Lazo, which incessant
practice teaches those wild people to throw with match-
less dexterity. It consists of a plaited thong of hides, forty
or fifty feet in length, with a noose and iron-ring at one end.
Swinging the noose end round and round with the right arm,
the other end being coiled over the left arm, and fixed to the
saddle girth, they throw their singular missile, themselves
all the while at speed, and entangle the victim by the horns,
the neck, or by one or both legs, as may be wished, and in
an instant hurl him to the ground. One superintendent,
with four assistants, is reckoned sufficient for the tendence of
from 4000 to 5000 head of cattle, often extending over a
space of eighteen square miles of country ; and this esta-

254 THE OX.

blishment, according to Azara, requires about 70 horses, the
Gauchos almost living on horseback. Individual proprietors
have often enormous herds, some, according to Spix, as many
as 40,000 head. In Paraguay, the practice is to drive the
cattle once a-week, or oftener, to an elevated circuit, termed
the Rodeo ; in other cases this is only done once a-year, when
the bulls are emasculated, generally at the age of two years,
and the cattle branded with the owners' mark. These animals
do not differ in appearance from those that are entirely wild.

But, besides these wilder herds, it is common for the owners
to keep a number of tame cattle, which are used for draught,
or for yielding milk, which is partly made into cheese. But
so little do the people of the country understand the making
of butter, that the Emperor of the Brazils, in possession of
the finest herds in the world, used to obtain the butter for
his own use from Ireland? after a voyage of several months.
The flesh of these tame cattle is preferred to that of the wild.
They are kept in enclosures during the night, and permitted
to pasture, during the day, in the meadows and adjoining
plains.

From these herds of cattle are derived those enormous
supplies of skins which form the chief export of the countries
of the Rio de la Plata and the interior. Azara informs us,
that, in 1796, the export of hides from Buenos Ayres and
Monte Video alone was from 800,000 to a million annually ;
but, to form an idea of the magnitude of the continued car-
nage of those noble herds, wTe must consider the vast and pro-
digal consumption of the interior, where no value is set upon
the lives of animals so bounteously supplied. They afford
the only animal food of the settled inhabitants, who use it
with a waste that exceeds belief, selecting the favourite parts,
and leaving the rest in the wilderness. The animals, too, are
killed in multitudes by the Indians, who plunder them from
the farms, or pursue them in mere wantonness. Further,
the mortality amongst them is excessive, from the attacks of
wild beasts, the torments of venomous insects, which pursue

HISTORY. 255

them in clouds, and the effects of the barbarous treatment of
their wild keepers. The time, indeed, it may be believed,
will come when those rich and beautiful lands, so blessed by
the bounties of Nature, so cursed by the ignorance of man,
in place of yielding ship-loads of hides, will support an in-
dustrious population capable of appreciating and using the
natural gifts of their country.

The Ox has thus found a new habitat more suitable for the
increase of his numbers, than in the most fertile plains of
Asia and Europe. He has also been carried to North America
and its islands, wherever the settlements of Europeans are
found, and equally adapts himself to these situations as
to those which are nearer to his native climes. In the United
States, he is cultivated with considerable care, and has the
same useful characters communicated to him by artificial
treatment, and the selecting of the parent stock, as in the
countries of Europe, where attention has been paid to the
development of his properties.

But in the warmer regions of Eastern Asia, the Ox appears
with such distinct form and characters, as to leave the na-
turalist in doubt whether he ought to be regarded as a dis-
tinct species, rather than as a variety or race. He is gene-
rally termed the Zebu, from an Indian name ; and though he
differs greatly in size in different localities, he presents every
where the same general character which ancient figures shew
him to have possessed from the earliest times.

The Indian Ox has a flatter and more oblique forehead than
the Ox of western Asia and Europe ; his horns are more
straight, short, and directed backwards; his ears are very long,
and pendent. He is furnished with a large fleshy lump upon
the shoulders, his haunch is very round, like that of the Gayal,
and his limbs are slender and graceful. His skin is soft,
and he is furnished with a large dewlap hanging down in
folds. In his general form, he approaches more to the larger
Antelopes than the Ox of the West.

The Zebu is found throughout the whole of Hindostan, and

256 THE OX.

stretches all eastward through China, to Japan, and other
islands of the East. He gradually diminishes in numbers
beyond the Indus to the west, and in Persia gives entire
place to the common races. He is found, however, in Ara-
bia, having been probably carried thither from India. An
animal similar with respect to the possession of a dorsal
hump, but probably of African descent, is numerous in Abys-
sinia and Upper Egypt, extending along the eastern coasts
of Africa to the Island of Madagascar and the country of
the Caffres, and westwards from Abyssinia to the Niger.

He was found in Syria before the Christian era, Aristotle
distinctly mentioning the humped oxen of Syria. It has been
observed as remarkable, that the Grecian sculptors gave a
dewlap to their oxen somewhat like that of Eastern countries.
No conclusion can be founded on this concidence, with respect
to the existence of this race in Greece. The description and
sculptures of the Greeks exhibit the common, and not the
Indian form. Dewlaps are largely developed in all races of
Oxen which approach the natural state ; and in copying the
wilder bulls of their own country, the sculptors of Greece had
sufficient examples of the graceful dewlap to guide them in
their ideal representations. In the figures of the Zodiac by
the Egyptians and Greeks, the form of the bull is always that
of the common races, and never of the Indian animal. On the
other hand, on the most ancient monuments of the East, as
those of Elephanta, all the memorials of whose origin are
hidden in the obscurity of the past, the representations of the
Ox always exhibit the Zebu form. From the remotest anti-
quity, therefore, the form of the Indian Zebu has remained
unchanged. Nay, some have believed that the Zebu is the
original type of the Ox, that the warmer regions of the East
are the native country of the race, and that it is only as he
is removed from these that he assumes the ordinary form.
It is more natural to believe that the Indian Ox is distinct
in the natural state.

The Zebu differs greatly in size in different parts of Hin-

HISTORY. 257

dostan, and other countries of the East. Like many species,
he dwindles towards the countries of the Pacific, so that in
Corea and the Islands of Japan he is little larger than a
Hog, shewing that these countries are at the limits of the
natural habitat of the species. The finest breeds of the
Eastern Zebu are produced in the northern provinces of
India. There they are tall and graceful animals, surpass-
ing in the power of active motion any of the races of Oxen
with which we are conversant in Europe. They are used
for the saddle, for chariots, for the bearing of burdens, for
common draught, and all the labours of the field. They
accompany the predatory armies of Indian nations in thou-
sands, carrying the materials of war. They are used in state
processions by the Princes of India. They are guided by a
cord passed through the septum of the nose, to which are
attached the bridle-reins, which, when not used, rest upon
the hump of the shoulder. Their motion is easy, and they
trot and gallop almost as freely as a horse. They have great
powers of endurance, frequently travelling sixty or eighty
miles a-day. When employed in chariots or the plough, they
draw by a yoke, which rests upon the shoulder. They are
exceedingly tractable, and become attached to their keepers.
The milk-white colour is esteemed by the Hindoos, which it
likewise was by the ancient Egyptians, as having a charac-
ter of sanctity. Very often rich Hindoos dedicate a parti-
cular bull of the sacred colour to Siva, when he is branded
by the emblem of the god, and thenceforward becomes ex-
empt from the contumely of servitude. He wanders where
he will, and no one strikes, molests, or turns him from his
path : he feeds in the gardens, the rice fields, or wherever he
chooses to enter : he finds his way into the market-places
of towns, and helps himself to the green herbs and choicest
fruits, without any one driving him away. Impunity ren-
ders him familiar : he will take food from the hand Uke a
dog, and everywhere dainties are presented to him by simple

258 THE OX.

devotees. These consecrated bulls are described by English
residents as absolute pests in the villages of India, thrust-
ing their noses into the stalls of fruiterers and pastry-cooks,
robbing the peasants of their little treasure, and helping
themselves to whatever they please. The reverence, how-
ever, paid to the Bull and the Cow is not extended to the
emasculated Ox, who is treated with the utmost harshness,
under the solitary exception of obedience to the law common
to the Hindoos and Jews, of not muzzling the Ox when he
treadeth out the corn.

Examples of the larger as well as smaller races of these
animals have been frequently brought to England, and they
have been made to cross the common breeds of the country.
The mixed offspring are fruitful with one another, and the
characteristic hump disappears with the first cross. In the
year 1832, a bull and cow of the finer breed were exhibited
at the Christmas Smithfield Show in London, under the name
of Nagpore cattle. The following account of them, derived
from Mr Perkins, to whom they belong, is given by Mr
Youatt, in his valuable Treatise on Cattle, contained in the
Library of Useful Knowledge.

" They were bred by Lieutenant-Colonel Skinner, at his
farm at Danah, near Pokah, on the borders of the Bichaneer
desert, 100 miles to the westward of Delhi. They are not
Buffaloes, but of the highest breed of Indian cattle. They
are used in India by the higher orders to draw their state-
carriages, and are much valued for their size, speed, and en-
durance, and sell at very high prices. These specimens
arrived at Calcutta, a distance of 1400 miles, in January
1829, and were then something under six months old. They
were sent as a present to Mr Wood, who was then residing
at Calcutta, and by whom they were presented to Mr Perkins.
Colonel Skinner has a large stock of them, and six or seven
beasts are always kept saddled to carry the military dis-
patches. They remain saddled three or four hours, and if
not wanted in that time, fresh ones are brought to relieve

HISTORY. 259

their companions. They will travel with a soldier on their
back fifteen or sixteen hours a-day, at the rate of six miles
an hour. Their action is particularly fine, nothing like that
of the English cattle, with the sideway circular action of
their hind-legs ; the Nagpore cattle bring their hind-legs
under them in as straight a line as the Horse. They are
very active, and can clear a five-barred gate with the greatest
ease. Mr Perkins has a calf which has leaped over an iron
fence higher than any five-barred gate ; and the bull fre-
quently jumps over the same fence in order to get at the
water, and, when he has drunk his fill, leaps back again.
The bull was in high condition when exhibited. He is em-
ployed in a light cart in various jobs about the farm. Some-
times he goes fore-horse in the waggon-team to deliver corn ;
he also drags the bush-harrow, and draws the light roller
over the ploughed land. He is very docile and tractable
when one man drives him and attends upon him, but he has
now and then shewn symptoms of dislike to others. He is
fed entirely on hay, except that, when he works, a little bran
is given to him, and in the turnip season, he is treated occa-
sionally with a few slices of Swedes, of which he is very fond.
He was at first very troublesome to shoe, and it was neces-
sary to erect a break in order to confine him. He was un-
willing to go into it for some time, but now walks in it very
contentedly. He is very fond of being noticed ; and often,
when he is lying down, if any one to whom he is accustomed
goes and sits down upon him and strokes him over the face,
he will turn round and put his head on their lap, and lie there
contentedly as long as they please. The cow is at grass with
the milch cows, and comes up with them morning and even-
ing, when they are driven to be milked."

But the Ox extends to another division of the globe,
where we may expect him to exhibit modifications dependent
on the peculiar conditions under which he is placed, and
which exert so great an influence on the development of
animal forms. But a vast part of the African continent is

260 THE OX.

yet untrodden by the feet of naturalists, and we are left
to draw our knowledge of its animals from the uncertain
notices of travellers, often too much occupied with the dan-
gers around them, to be able to afford us the details required.
We know, however, that the Ox, under various modifications,
abounds throughout those vast countries, is everywhere sub-
jected to servitude, affords milk and flesh to the inhabitants,
and assists them in their rude labours ; but of the species or
races, our knowledge is in a high degree imperfect. So far
as we know, the common Ox prevails along all the countries
on the Mediterranean, and a part of the shores of the Atlan-
tic ; but how much it occupies of the interior, travellers, the
most observant, have failed to inform us. The same form
appears in Southern Africa, in the races which are cultivated
by the Hottentots, the Caffres, and other tribes stretching to
the deserts of the interior. The oxen of these races are of
small size, like those of the mountainous parts of Europe,
and are possessed of great activity and power of endurance.
But, in Africa, the Ox likewise presents itself under a dif-
ferent form, having the large hump of the Indian Zebu, but
being distinguished from the latter animal by large, light,
and spreading horns. This race appears in Abyssinia,
whence it extends down the Nile to the tropic of Cancer, and
perhaps beyond it, westward through the unexplored regions
of the countries of the Negroes to the Niger, and southward
again through 40° of latitude to the country of the Caffres.
It thus seems to extend over nearly all the burning regions
of the continent, and it is difficult to believe that an animal
so diffused is not indigenous to the country which produces
it. It may be conjectured, indeed, that the African is merely
the Asiatic Zebu, transported from the East to Western
Africa. Though we have nothing to invalidate this opinion,
it certainly seems to be a very violent hypothesis; and a
more natural supposition is, that an animal occupying all
the intertropical regions of Africa, is as proper to the country
itself as the Zebu of India is to the countries of the East.

HISTORY. 261

Unfortunately, the accounts of travellers are not sufficiently
precise to enable us to compare the Indian with the African
Ox ; and it is doubtful if a single specimen of the Humped
Ox of Africa has been brought to Europe.

Bruce, on entering Abyssinia by the mountain of Taranto,
describes the bulls and cows as of exquisite beauty, as being
completely white, with large dewlaps hanging down to the
knees, with horns and hoofs completely well turned, with
the horns wide, and the hair like silk. In another place,
he informs us that, in the fertile and populous province of
Woggora, the oxen have large and beautiful horns, exceed-
ingly wide, and that they have bosses on their backs like
camels. Other writers agree as to the great size of the horns
of the humped cattle of Africa. Captain Clapperton describes
the race of Bornon, likewise humped, in the very heart of the
continent, as being of a white colour and large size, and as
having horns, very light, of three feet seven inches in length,
measured along the curve. We cannot say, indeed, that the
mere tendency to a large development of horn constitutes a
specific distinction ; but as this is a character which remark-
ably distinguishes the humped cattle of Africa from those of
India, it furnishes a reasonable ground for believing that the
humped cattle of Africa have characters proper to themselves,
and are as much an original race as the Zebus of India.

The accumulation of fatty matter on the shoulder of the
Ox, may not unreasonably be regarded as a natural provision
for fitting him for countries of intense heat. The cultivated
Ox of England accumulates fat largely within the body ; but
this might not consist with the exercise of the animal func-
tions in a climate of high temperature ; and, therefore, the
fatty secretion may be placed externally on a particular part
of the body. In certain races of sheep in Africa the same
tendency is observed, lumps of fatty matter appearing be-
neath the skin, on the shoulders and head, and in other races,
as has been shewn in another place, on the tail, which be-
comes of an enormous magnitude. The hump of the Camel

262 THE OX.

seems to be a similar provision for the accumulation of nutri-
ent matter, and may be supposed to be connected with the
extraordinary patience under abstinence from food, which
distinguishes this child of the desert. The fatty hump of the
Ox of warmer countries, may thus be regarded as an adapta-
tion of the animal to the condition in which it is placed.

Another provision for fitting the Ox of warmer countries
to the circumstances of his situation, is the possession of a
light, sinewy, and active form. The heavy Ox of the plains
of Holland and England, could not subsist in the arid climate,
and on the scanty herbage, of the African desert. Hence we
find the Oxen of Africa of less bulk of body, and more agile
in their motions, than those in the temperate countries of
abundant herbage. All over Africa, these animals are em-
ployed in laborious journeys, and for the bearing of heavy
loads. Their appearance and employment in these arid coun-
tries are thus described by a recent traveller :

" The bullock is the bearer of all the grain and other
articles to and from the markets. A small saddle of plaited
rushes is laid upon him, when sacks made of goat-skins, and
filled with corn, are lashed on his broad and able back. A
leather thong is passed through the cartilage of his nose,
and serves as a bridle, while on the top of the load is mount-
ed the owner, his wife, or his slave. Sometimes the daughter
or the wife of a rich shouaa will be mounted on her particu-
lar bullock, and precede the loaded animals, extravagantly
adorned with amber, silver, rings, coral, and all sorts of
finery 3 her hair streaming with fat, a black ring of kohol, at
least an inch wide, round her eyes, and, I may say, arrayed
for conquest at the crowded market. Carpets or tobes are
then spread on her clumsy palfrey ; she sit&jambe de$d,jambe
deld, and, with considerable grace, guides her animal by the
nose. Notwithstanding the peaceableness of his nature, her
vanity still enables her to torture him into something like
caperings and curvettings."*

* Travels in Africa, by Major Denham and Captain Clapperton.

HISTORY. 263

In the country of the Cape, the value of the agile form and
powers of endurance of the African Ox, are shewn in the ser-
vices he performs. These oxen are used for carrying bur-
dens, in the manner of mules and pack-horses in other coun-
tries. A traveller, describing this employment, observes :
" We proceeded nearly the whole way at a brisk step, some-
times trotting, and at other times galloping, while the three
bushmen, who drove the pack-oxen on before us, hurried
them over the rocky ground at so extraordinary a rate, that,
even on horseback, I found it not easy to keep up with them ;
and often, when the surface was so thickly covered with
stones and large fragments of rock, that my horse could
scarcely find where to place his foot, I was obliged to call
out to them to slacken their pace."*

These oxen are likewise trained to the saddle. They are
broken in, we are told, when they are about a year old. A
slit being made in the cartilage between the nostrils, large
enough to admit the finger, a strong stick, stripped of its
bark, is passed through, and to each end of it is fixed a thong
of hide, of length sufficient to reach round the neck, and serve
as reins. The saddle is formed of sheep-skins with the wool
on, and the stirrups consist of a thong across the saddle, with
loops for the feet. While the animal's nose is still sore, he is
mounted and put in training, and, in a week or two, is gene-
rally rendered sufficiently obedient to the rider. " The faci-
lity and adroitness," says Mr Burchell, " with which the Hot-
tentots manage the Ox, has often excited my admiration. It
is made to walk, trot, or gallop, at the will of its master ;
and being longer legged, and rather more lightly made than
the Ox in England, travels with greater ease and expedition,
walking three or four miles in an hour, trotting five, and
galloping, on an average, seven or eight." These oxen are
likewise used in the drawing of those covered waggons which
the Dutch settlers have introduced, and with which they
transport their merchandise, and perform their long journeys

* BurchelPs Travels in Africa.

264 THE OX.

from the interior. These waggons, though now much smaller
than those used by the earlier boors, are still very weighty
vehicles, drawn by teams of ten or twelve oxen. They are
usually driven by a Hottentot, who manages his enormous
team with perfect skill, and without the aid of reins. He
sits behind, holding in his hand a tremendous whip of plaited
thong, the handle of which is twelve or fourteen feet in
length. He uses it with ease, cracking it loudly over the
heads of the animals, and, when necessary, hitting an offend-
ing bullock : but his chief instrument of guidance is the
voice : he speaks to the animals by name, directing them to
the right or left, to stop or to quicken their pace, and enforc-
ing his commands, when necessary, by the stroke of his ter-
rible lash. When the team is large, a boy, usually a Hot-
tentot, leads the foremost oxen by a thong fastened about
their horns.

But to turn from the Oxen of distant countries to those
whose economical uses are so important to the civilized na-
tions of Europe, we find that the animals, though agreeing
in certain common characters, yet very greatly differ in their
temperament, form, and uses, with the physical condition of
the countries in which they are reared, and the artificial treat-
ment to which they are subjected. It is upon the supplies of
food that the size of the animals seems mainly to depend.
Wherever food is supplied in abundance, the Ox becomes
enlarged in bulk ; and wherever food is deficient, whatever be
the nature of the climate, his size becomes less. The Ox of
Barbary is as diminutive as that of the Highlands of Scot-
land, because the grasses, his natural food, are burned up
during a great part of the year, leaving plants for him to
subsist upon as innutritious as the heaths of the northern
mountains. But where the grasses abound, and where the
heat of the climate is not sufficiently great to wither them
up during a great part of the year, the Ox assumes an entirely
different character with respect to magnitude and strength.
The largest Oxen in Europe are to be found extending west-

HISTORY. 265

ward by the Ukraine, and the rich valley of the Danube,
through Hungary, the more fertile parts of Germany, part of
Denmark, Holland, and to England. In the richer parts
of other countries on either side of this tract, as in the Ma-
remma of Italy, and the finer valleys of Switzerland, and in
certain parts of Spain and France, are also to be found large
Oxen, the size of the animals always being in proportion to
the natural fertility of the pastures. Art, indeed, by sup-
plying cultivated food, can remedy the effects^ of natural
scarcity ; but, in a general sense, we find that always the
larger breeds are formed in countries of abundant herbage.

The British Islands present, in the productiveness of the
soil, such extremes of fertility and barrenness, as enable us
to mark the constancy of this law in a greater degree perhaps
than in any other country of the same extent. Over the more
elevated parts of the country, where the heaths, carices, and
innutritious junci, form the principal part of the herbage, the
Oxen are of small stature : as the grasses and leguminous
herbage plants become mixed with the others, the size of the
Oxen becomes enlarged, and still more when artificial food is
added to the natural ; and in the richest plains of all, where
the natural productions of the soil, and the resources of con-
tinued cultivation, are combined, the animals acquire their
greatest development of form. The Ox of the Sutherland
mountains, and the Ox of the Yorkshire vales, present to the
eye a diversity of size and aspect, such as we might hold in
other cases to distinguish species; but these extremes are con-
nected by all the intervening gradations from the smallest to
the largest. Looking to bulk of body as a character, we may be
said to possess two general classes of breeds in this country ;
first, those which are proper to the more mountainous and less
fertile districts ; and, secondly, those which are proper to
the plains and richer country. The first class comprehends
the breeds of Wales, of the mountains of Scotland, and of the
high lands of Ireland, as the Pembroke, the West Highland,
the Kerry ; the second comprehends the Long-horned breed

266 THE OX.

and its varieties, the highly cultivated breed of Short-horns,
and the Hereford : and, again, there is a class of breeds in-
termediate between the smaller breeds of the mountains and
the larger races of the plains, as the Galloway, the Angus,
and the beautiful breed of Nouth Devon.

But, besides the effects of the natural and acquired fertility
of districts in modifying the form and characters of these
animals, so as to form varieties, art and a fitting selection of
the breeding parents exercise an influence scarcely less im-
portant. Experience shews that the characters of the Ox, as
of all animals subjected to domestication, are communicated
with surprising constancy to the young, and become perma-
nent by reproduction between similar individuals. Not only
are the properties of form so transmitted, but those pecu-
liarities of temperament which render the animals fitted to
particular uses, as for the exertion of strength in the yoke,
for the secretion of fat, or the production of milk. Besides,
then, the characters of breeds which are the result of natural
causes, there is a class of characters the result of breeding
and artificial treatment. Some of the finest of the breeds of
England may be termed artificial, with relation to the means
employed to give them their distinctive characters : such was
the variety of the Long-horned breed formed by Bakewell,
such is the modern Durham improved by Colling, and such is
the highly esteemed breed of Hereford, perfected by Tomkins.
These breeds, the finest in the world with respect to their
economical uses, although bearing an affinity to the parent
stocks from which they were derived, have had those peculiar
properties which fit them for the uses for which they are de-
signed mainly communicated by the art of the breeder.

Of the properties which artificial breeding is employed to
call forth, that which holds the first place in this country is,
an early maturity of the animal, and a tendency to the secre-
tion of fat. But the production of milk is likewise important,
and particular breeds are valued for the faculty of yielding
this substance in abundance. Before describing the various

THE DAIRY. 267

breeds of the country in detail, it will be well to direct at-
tention to the subject of Milk and its products, as connected
with the economical value of breeds, and, in certain cases,
serving to distinguish them.

THE DAIRY.

MILK is the liquid food derived from the blood of mam-
miferous animals for the nourishment of their young. It is
secreted in glandular sacs termed mammae, the number and
disposition of which vary in different tribes of animals. Some-
times they consist of a single pair, as in the female of the
Horse, the Sheep, the Goat ; sometimes of more than one
pair connected together, as in the Cow ; and sometimes of
several pairs, extending along the lower part of the abdomen,
as in the Hog, the Dog, the Cat. These organs are filled
with innumerable glandular lobes, from the size of a millet-
seed upwards, through which the blood, circulating in myriads
of vessels finer than the finest hair, gives off the milky secre-
tion. From these lobes proceed little ducts or tubes, which,
gradually uniting, form larger ducts, and then reservoirs or
sinuses, which communicate with the papillae or nipples. The
milk is secreted at the birth of the young, and continues to
be supplied for a longer or shorter period, according to its
wants. It differs somewhat in its composition in different
species ; but in all of them it is a whitish liquid, opaque, and
of a slightly saccharine taste. It consists essentially of wa-
ter, holding in solution and suspension various substances,
some of which can be readily separated from the rest. Of
these the principal are, 1. An oily substance, which, from its
less density, rises to the surface, and, being agitated, forms
butter ; 2. An albuminous matter, which, by the action of
certain substances, coagulates, and forms curd or cheese ;
and, 3. A species of sugar, which can likewise be obtained
separately from the other constituents.

268 THE OX.

Man, deriving his first nourishment from the breast of his
parent, must, in every age, have been taught by his reason
to apply to his uses the milk of his flocks and herds. From
the earliest times, accordingly, we read of the milk of Goats,
and Sheep, and Kine, as being the food of our species, either
in its natural state, or separated into those bland and nutri-
tive substances which, by the easiest arts, can be derived
from it. When Abraham sat at the opening of his tent, in
the heat of the day, in the plains of Mamre, " He lift up his
eyes, and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him : and, when
he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent-door, and
bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now
I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee,
from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched,
and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree : and
I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts ;
after that ye shall pass on ; for therefore are ye come to your
servant. And they said, So do as thou hast said. And
Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make
ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make
cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd,
and fetched a calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young
man ; and he hasted to dress it. And he took Butter and
Milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before
them ; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did
eat." The scene, apart from the mission of the heavenly
guests, might represent the hospitality of the wandering
Syrians at the present hour : and all over the East, from
Aleppo to the Ganges, the milk of flocks and herds supplies
to the inhabitants a mild and grateful food.

The earliest writers of Greece and Rome speak of cheese
and milk as a food familiar to every one. In the fatal cave
of the Cyclops, Ulysses finds the milk of Goats and Sheep
stored in baskets of osier, the shelves bending under loads
of cheeses ; and innumerable other allusions to this early
food of mankind are scattered through the writings of the

THE DAIRY. 269

poets, philosophers, and historians of Greece. But the Greeks,
living in the country of the olive, made no use of butter,
and became only acquainted with it from those whom, in the
arrogance of their hearts, they chose to style barbarians.
Aristotle says of milk, that it consists of two parts, the
cheesy and the watery ; and it is only in another place that
he refers, incidentally as it were, to the oily matter which
rises to the surface. Hippocrates, who wrote in the fifth
century before Christ, speaking of the Scythians, says, that
they poured the milk of their mares into wooden vessels,
and agitated it violently, which caused the fat part, which
was light, to rise to the surface, becoming what they call
butter; and Herodotus, who was contemporary with him,
mentions, that they placed the milk in deep wooden vessels,
and caused it to be agitated by their slaves. Both writers
manifestly speak of something which was new to their own
customs ; and, for many centuries afterwards, we know that
the Greeks made use of cheese and oil, but not of butter.
Dioscorides, who wrote thirty-one years before Christ, seems
to have been the first of the Greeks who suggested to his
countrymen that this food of the barbarians might be used
for diet. He says, that it might be melted, and poured
over pulse and other vegetables, instead of oil ; but ages
elapsed before the Greeks adopted the customs, in this re-
spect, of the nations they despised.

The Romans, in like manner, although they made large
use of cheese, were ignorant of the use of butter, until they
had extended their conquests among the Gauls, Germans,
and Britons ; and it was not until the age of the empire,
that they began to make use of it as an ointment in their
baths, and ultimately as food. They lived in the land of the
olive and the vine ; and their rustic writers, while they treat
largely of milk, cheese, and oil, say nothing of the prepara-
tion of butter. On the other hand, we learn, from many of
their writers, that it was familiar to the Gothic and Celtic
nations of Northern Europe. Pliny affirms that the barbar-

270 THE ox.

ous nations made not only cheese but butter, which they
used as an agreeable food. He says, that they made it from
the milk of the Goat, the Sheep, and the Cow ; but most
commonly from that of the Cow, although the milk of the
Ewe produced the fattest butter. He describes the form of
the vessel employed in making it, which seems to have been
similar to that now in use. The northern nations were like-
wise acquainted with the use of cheese, although some of the
Roman writers declare that they knew not how to prepare
it, which can only mean, that they did not do so after the
Roman fashion ; for Pliny himself, who denies this know-
ledge to the Germans, describes their manner of making
cheese, by rendering the milk sour, and pressing the whey
from the curd. Caesar says of the same people, that the
greater part of their food consisted of milk, cheese, and flesh.
Strabo confirms the testimony of Caesar ; and Tacitus states
that the food of the Germans was of the simplest kind,
namely, wild fruits, game recently killed, or concrete milk,
which must mean milk rendered concrete by curdling it. Of
the Britons, Caesar observes, that those of the interior, for
the most part, did not sow corn, but lived on milk and flesh.
And Strabo states, that some of them, though they had abun-
dance of milk, were so ignorant as not to know how to make
cheese. But if some of them only were thus ignorant, the
rest must have possessed the knowledge ; and we learn,
from other sources, that the Celtse of the wilds of Britain,
where the Roman arms never reached, were familiar with
this early food of the people of the East. They had learned
to prepare it, it may be believed, before Romulus drew milk
from the teats of his Wolf, or before the city of the Seven
Hills had a name,

All the ruminating animals subjected to domestication are
capable of yielding milk to their protectors ; and all the mem-
bers of the great Western, and even the Negro, family of man-
kind, make use of it as food. It is obtained from the domestic
Cow, the Asiatic and African Zebu, the Buffalo, the Yak, the

THE DAIRY. 271

Camel, the Goat, the Sheep, the Rein-deer. It is yielded
likewise by the Mare and the Ass. The milk of the rumi-
nating tribes is the richest in cream and cheese, «and that of
the Equine family is the most abundant in saccharine prin-
ciples, and approaches nearest to that of the human species.
The milk of Mares is used by the Kalmuks and other East-
ern Asiatics. The Chinese, who are of the same family of
mankind, make scarcely any use of milk as food ; and the Red
Men of America, who are the nearest connected by their phy-
siological characters with the Eastern Asiatics, manifest the
like indifference to it ; and, until the present hour, have not
learned to tame the milk-bearing animals of their country, the
Rein -deer and the Musk Ox of their regions of snow, and
the Bisons of their rich savannahs and boundless forests.
Passing from Eastern Asia into its innumerable islands, we
find that milk is scarcely at all used by the inhabitants. To
the savage tribes of Borneo, New Guinea, and New Holland,
this salutary food is unknown.

Of all the ruminating animals, the Cow is that which
yields her milk the most freely, and in the largest quantity.
This animal possesses two pairs of mammse united together,
forming a large udder, whereas the Sheep, the Goat, and the
Deer, possess only one pair. She gives her milk beyond the
period of maternal solicitude, and in quantity far more than
suffices to nourish her own offspring. Her milk holds a
middle place between that of the Ovine family and the Equine,
with respect to the production of cheese, butter, and sugar,
and it is more agreeable to the taste than any other. The
milk of the Buffalo is more watery than that of the Cow,
and the cream and butter are colourless. The milk of the
Yak is rich, but, like that of the other Bisons, has the odour
of musk.

The Camel, inhabiting the vast deserts of Asia, and ex-
tending over a part of Africa, yields milk which may be used
as food. There are two species, the Bactrian Camel, having
two large protuberances on the back, being adapted for the

272 THE ox.

colder deserts, and extending from the Caspian Sea eastward
through Central Asia to the Indian Ocean ; and the Arabian
Camel, having one protuberance only, and being fitted for
warmer climates and more steril deserts. The female of the
former species is little used for yielding milk, because, in
the countries which she inhabits, other animals better suited
to that end are found. Nevertheless, her milk is sometimes
used by the Eastern nations to produce, by fermentation, an
inebriating liquor. The other species of Camel is the trea-
sure of the wandering Arabs, and has so long been subjected
to domestication, that not a trace of it has been found in the
wild state. The conformation and habits of this animal are
suited to its condition. Its broad cleft hoof, covered with a
callous skin, does not sink in the sand, and suits itself
readily to the sharp stones and pebbles with which the sur-
face may be covered. It bears thirst and hunger better than
any known creature : it feeds on the withered herbage, the
thorny shrubs, and bitter plants of the desert, and can take
into its stomach a supply of food for the wants of a long
journey. In its stomach is developed a series of deep cells
for containing water ; and when the Arabs, on their distant
journeys, and in danger of perishing from thirst, are com-
pelled to kill their faithful Camel, its store of water is pro-
cured as pure and wholesome as from a fountain. The milk
of the female is made use of by the people as food ; it is
serous, and nauseous in taste to the stranger, but to the
Arab it proves a resource beyond all price in the burning
wilds which he inhabits.

The Goat, we have seen, is spread over all the old conti-
nent, and many of its islands. The female yields milk in
considerable abundance, and nearly as freely as the Cow her-
self; and she readily submits to be the fosternurse of other
animals, and treats her adopted offspring with affection. Her
milk is thick, more abounding in cheese than that of the
Cow, and plentiful in cream. It has a peculiar taste and
odour, to which use reconciles those who feed on it, and it is

THE DAIRY. 273

eminently nourishing and salubrious. The butter which it
yields is of a firm consistence, and nearly as white as snow.
The cheese has a strong and peculiar flavour, not ungrateful
to those who are accustomed to it. It is produced in all the
parts of Europe where the Goat is reared, and largely in the
Levant, Italy, Spain, and other countries of the Mediter-
ranean.

The Ewe yields milk, but not so abundantly, freely, or for
so long a period, as the Goat. It is the most productive of
cream of any kind of milk ; but the butter which it yields is
of a soft consistence, leaving a fatty impression, like tallow,
in the mouth. The cheese has a strong stimulating flavour,
which increases with age. It is largely produced in some of
the more mountainous parts of Europe, furnishing a food
grateful to the people of the countries that produce it, but
far inferior in general estimation to the cheese of the Cow.

At the limits, and beyond them, of the region of the
Goat and the Sheep, exists a creature, fitted by a boun-
teous Providence to subsist on the herbs of the arctic zone,
and yield its milk for human support, in lands of ice and snow.
The Reindeer inhabits the glacial regions of Europe and
Asia, migrating along the snowy mountains of the interior,
almost to the line of the Caucasus. In America, too, it i?
found, but with characters proper to that continent; and
there it is the subject of persecution by savage hunters, who
seem incapable of rising even to the pastoral state. But, in
Europe, the Reindeer has been reduced to servitude by a
race of men seemingly placed beyond the limits of humanized
society, but possessed of arts which tribes of barbarous hun-
ters do not acquire. The Laplanders, in scanty numbers,
are spread over the extreme north of Europe, occupying a
country of 300 miles by 500 on the Arctic Ocean. Distinct
in aspect, character, and speech, from the Scandinavian
people in contact with them, — their swarthy colour, their
dark eyes, and black hair, indicate a southern origin ; and
their simple and expressive language exhibits a striking

274 THE ox.

affinity with those of the countries of the East. They are a
remnant, it may be believed, of ancient settlers in Europe,
driven by stronger enemies into regions of almost perpetual
winter. They have tamed the Wild Deer of their country,
and rendered it a substitute for the Sheep, the Ox, nay, for
the Horse, of happier climes. They derive from it milk, and
know how to fabricate butter and cheese. They separate
the butter by agitating the milk with their hands, and em-
ploy herbs to coagulate the curd. They prepare, from the
milk, many simple delicacies, which they use with the wild
fruits of their brief summer. In the season of their dreary
winter, the milk of the Doe freezes as soon as it is drawn
from the teats, and in this state it is preserved, to be thawed
when required for use. The Doe yields about the same
quantity of milk as the Goat, and it is rich in caseous matter.
Some of the wealthier Laplanders have as many as a thou-
sand head of those fleet and powerful Deers : the less affluent
have herds of 300 or less.

The milk of the Mare is used "only in those boundless
plains of Central Asia, where the Horse can be reared in
numerous herds. It contains a larger proportion of sugar
than that of the ruminating quadrupeds, but less of caseine,
or the matter of cheese, and oil. It yields curd, but the
cream is in small quantity. From the abundance of the
saccharine principle, it readily undergoes the vinous fermen-
tation, and the wandering tribes have long learned to con-
vert it into a fermented liquor, which they use in excess.
They have even attained the art of separating the alcohol by
distillation, long, it is probable, before the alchymists of the
West had discovered the Aqua Vitas which they fancied was
to confer upon them immortality. The Western Tartars
still use the milk of their mares ; but, from the diminished
number of Horses, in less quantity than in former ages ; for
these tribes, now controlled by the powerful sway of a vigo-
rous government, have become less predatory, and cultivate
the ruminating animals more than the Horse. But the Kal-

THE DAIRY. 275

muks, and other Eastern Asiatics, still make considerable
use of the milk of their numerous Mares.

The milk of the Ass possesses nearly the same properties
as that of the Mare, but it contains still less of oil and
the matter of cheese. It has been used from early times as
a medicament. It is sweet and wholesome, and, from the
small quantity of oil which it contains, it is the most easily
assimilated by the digestive organs of any kind of milk. The
butter which may be obtained from it by long agitation, is
soft and insipid, and possesses the property of mixing again
with the whey.

Milk, like all the secretions of the animal body, is a very
compound substance. It consists of about 90 per cent, of
water, holding in solution and suspension the substances
which enter into its composition. These are, 1st, The matter
of butter, diffused in myriads of globules throughout the
fluid ; 2d, Caseine, or the matter of cheese, which is held
partly in solution, and partly in suspension ; 3d, Lactine,-or
the sugar of milk ; kth, An animal extract, like that yielded
by flesh, various soluble salts, and, in some cases, a quantity
of free acid.

When milk is suffered to remain at rest, it separates
slowly into two parts. The lighter globules of oil rise to
the surface, carrying with them a portion of the caseous
matter and serum, and forming the unctuous coat termed
cream. The rising of the cream is favoured by employing
shallow vessels, and the separation continues for twenty-four
hours or more, according to the kind of milk, and the tem-
perature of the air. The entire oil does not separate, but a
portion of it remains suspended in the liquid. When the
cream is removed, the remaining liquid is still opaque, is of
a bluish-white colour, and has had its density increased by
the removal of the lighter globules. This substance, in com-
mon language termed Skimmilk, is perfectly nutritive, con-
taining nearly all the caseous and saccharine principles, with
a certain portion of the butyraceous.

276 THE ox.

When cream is agitated for a time, or when the entire
milk, without separation of the cream, is agitated, the buty-
raceous globules collect and adhere together, forming a soft
solid, which is Butter, and which floats in the liquid. The
separation of the butter, which takes place suddenly, is per-
formed by the familiar process of churning, and in certain
countries by agitating the milk in bags of hide or leather.
What remains after the separation of the butter is termed
Buttermilk. Buttermilk is therefore merely milk deprived
of its butter, and still contains the caseous and other con-
stituents.

Butter thus obtained has the properties of an expressed
oil, and fuses at about the temperature of the human body.
It is a very compound substance, being resolvable into various
animal fats and acids ; and, further, it is not obtained pure
by the mechanical means employed to separate it, but retains
a portion of caseine, serum, and the soluble matter of the
milk. When exposed to the air, it speedily undergoes a
change, and becomes rancid. To preserve it from decompo-
sition, it is mixed withv salt and other substances. The
people of the warmer countries of the East subject it to
fusion, by which means the extraneous matters are sepa-
rated. It is then termed Ghee, in which state it is used by
the Hindoos and other Asiatics. The Arabs consume it in
enormous quantities. Burckhardt informs us, that it is a
common practice among all classes to drink every morning
a coffee-cupful of ghee. The taste for it is universal, and
the poorest persons will expend half their daily income, in
order that they may enjoy their melted butter in the morn-
ing and at noon. Large quantities of this substance, accord-
ingly, are yearly shipped for Arabia from Abyssinia and
Egypt.

The butter of milk, it has been seen, is separated by
means purely mechanical ; the caseous or cheesy portion is
obtained by causing the albuminous matter of the milk to co-
here or coagulate. When milk, with or without separation

THE DAIRY. 277

of its cream, is kept for a time, the caseous matter diffused
through it, or dissolved in it, coagulates and forms curd.
This coagulum envelopes the parts which still remain liquid,
and renders the whole of a gelatinous consistence. By
pressure, and breaking the coagulum, the greater part of the
liquid readily separates, and the curd, being compressed,
forms cheese. But the process of coagulation may be has-
tened by the mixture of various substances. All the acids
possess the property of coagulating milk, even at common
temperatures, and more readily when assisted by heat. Even
alcohol, gum, sugar, and soluble neutral salts, produce the
formation of curd. Certain vegetable principles, as tannin,
and the juices of numerous plants, likewise coagulate milk,
as an infusion of the stems or leaves of sorrel, of butterwort,
of ladies' bedstraw, of the flowers of the artichoke, and of
the roots of the marsh-marigold. But the substance the
most approved of for producing coagulation is runnet, whic
is prepared by macerating the stomach of a sucking animal
in water, so as to extract the gastric juice, of which a very
minute quantity, contained in the infusion, suffices to coagu-
late a large quantity of milk. As acids promote the coagu-
lation of milk, so the alkalies prevent it, by rendering the
caseous matter soluble. When, therefore, soda, potassa, or
ammonia, exists in milk, coagulation will not take place
until the alkalies are neutralized by the addition of acids, or
by their spontaneous formation in the milk.

After the curd has been formed, either by the slow forma-
tion of acids in the milk, or by the addition of coagulating
media, the curd is broken, and the liquid which it envelopes
is separated by pressure. The expressed liquid is Whey ;
and whey, therefore, is merely milk deprived of its cheesy
matter. Whey accordingly contains butter, in so far as the
cream has not been separated, and butter, therefore, may be
derived from whey. It contains likewise the sugar of milk,
which may be obtained separately, in the crystalline form,
by evaporation ; and, in certain parts of Europe, the sugar

278 THE ox.

of milk is prepared on the large scale, and forms the subject
of commerce. Whey is sometimes used as human food, but
more generally for feeding the animals of the farm. It
quickly becomes acid, and yields vinegar ; it passes likewise
through the vinous fermentation, in which state it has an in-
toxicating effect.

Cheese, as formed by the common methods, is a mixture of
the caseous with the oily matter of milk, to which it owes its
richness. When the cream, therefore, is separated from the
milk before coagulation, the cheese contains less of oil, and
is of inferior estimation. When newly made, cheese is soft,
gelatinous, and mild, but after a time it undergoes a chemi-
cal change, and becomes strong- seen ted and stimulating. It
produces certain fungi, termed mould, and becomes the abode
of innumerable larvae, derived from the eggs of two insects,
the one a species of bug, the other a kind of fiy. It is when
in a state of decomposition, and inhabited by these disgust-
ing creatures, that it is the most valued as a stimulant to
the appetite.

Milk then, it is seen, may be separated by easy means into
four parts : 1st, into Butter, which is obtained by simple
agitation, either of the entire milk, or of the cream separated
from the milk ; 2d, into Buttermilk, which is obtained by
separating the butter ; 3d, into Cheese, which is produced by
coagulation either of the whole milk, or of the milk after se-
paration of the cream ; and, 4M, into the liquid residue, or
Whey. The means of obtaining these several products are
so easy, that it is not surprising that they should have been
known from the earliest times, and practised by the rudest
people. In the more advanced stages of rural economy, the
art of the dairy is reduced to principles, and merits the highest
attention as a branch of public industry and domestic economy.

The Cow goes with young about nine months, but with
great inequality of time beyond this period, dependent on
temperament, food, and treatment. The lacteal secretion is
observed previous to the birth, but only takes place in quan-

THE DAIRY. 279

tity when the young is born, though in a few rare instances,
heifers, without contact with the male, have been known to
produce milk ; arid the same curious anomaly has been ob-
served in the case of young mares. For a few days after the
birth, the milk, then termed Colostrum, is viscid, and of a
deep yellow colour, and tends more readily than other milk
to undergo decomposition, and yields butter with difficulty.
The colostrum should not, therefore, be mixed with the other
milk of the dairy, but be given to the new-born calf. The
milk, in a few days after the birth, assumes its usual proper-
ties, and for about ninety days is yielded abundantly, and
with an increase of richness in cream. The produce after a
time continues to diminish, and in about forty days before
the birth, the milk becomes alkaline and incapable of coagu-
lation, and ceases to be saccharine. The further milking of
the animal should then cease. Cows are usually milked twice
in the day throughout the year, in the morning and evening,
but they may be milked three times in the day when very full
in milk. The operation should be performed with gentleness
and care, and the milk withdrawn to the last portion. The
first drawn milk is always comparatively serous, while every
succeeding quantity improves in richness and abundance of
cream, so that the last portion contains many times the pro-
portion of cream contained in the first.

The domestic dairy is directed indifferently to the procur-
ing of milk for food, to the preparation of butter, and some-
times to the production of cheese. But the larger dairies
designed for the sale of milk and its products, are devoted
more exclusively to one or other of these productions. The
first class of dairies consists of those directed to the disposal
of milk in the fresh state as human food. Of this kind gene-
rally are the dairies in and around towns. These are the
dairies in which the largest return is obtained from the pro-
duce of the Cow. The second class consists of those in which
the milk is chiefly employed for the production of butter to
be disposed of in the fresh state. These are the next in pro-
fitable return to those in which the milk itself is disposed of;

280 THE ox.

and they are generally limited to the vicinity of the markets
of consumption, or to places having easy access to them.
Where the market is remote, or the access to it difficult, the
butter, in place of being used in the fresh state, is salted for
preservation. The third kind of dairy is chiefly employed in
the preparation of cheese ; but, for the most part, in the prac-
tice of the dairy, the manufacture of cheese is combined with
the preparation of butter to be disposed of in the salted state.
The interests and habits of the dairyman will lead him to the
kind of dairy which he shall establish. If he is in the vicinity
of a town, he will generally adopt that which is to supply the
inhabitants with milk in the natural state. In this kind of
dairy the rule of practice is, that the milk shall be conveyed
to the consumer before the cream has separated from the
liquid, and before acidity has taken place by the formation
of acids. To prevent ascescence and the separation of the
lighter parts, it should be kept at the greatest possible degree
of cold. The ascescence and coagulation of the milk, too,
may be retarded or prevented by the addition of an alkaline
carbonate, of which the most suitable is carbonate of soda.
The crystallized salt, being dissolved in two or three times
its weight of cold water, is to be mixed with the milk, until
a slip of turmeric paper, dipped into the fluid, retains its
yellow colour, or rather just begins to change its yellow
colour to brown. And even when milk has become acid
and curdled, it may have its properties restored by this
mean. Milk, too, may be preserved by heating it when taken
from the Cow, and once a-day afterwards. When milk is
evaporated to dryness, the residuum, in the form of a powder,
may be preserved in close bottles ; and when required for
use, mixed with water, to be formed into an emulsion, which
is not very different in its flavour and qualities from the ori-
ginal milk ; and in this manner the substance of milk may
be preserved for the longest sea-voyages and distant jour-
neys. The trade in milk in large towns has given rise to a
system of adulteration which ought to be punished as a fraud
upon the consumer. The primary adulteration is dilution by

THE DAIRY. 281

water, which is known to be practised to a great extent in
some of the capitals of Europe, and chiefly in London and
Paris. The effect is not confined to an impairing of the
nutritive properties of the milk : it leads to other devices,
still more criminal, for the purpose of concealing the adul-
teration.

The next destination of the dairy is the production of
Butter. The preparation of butter is a simple process, capable
of being performed on the large scale, as well as on the small
by the domestic inmates of the household. It may be ob-
tained either by separating the cream from the milk and
churning it, or by churning the cream and milk together. By
churning the cream alone, butter will be obtained of better
flavour and more valued for domestic use ; by churning the
milk without separation of the cream, butter will be obtained
in larger quantity, and, though not usually so delicate in its
fresh state, equally suited for being salted.

When butter is to be prepared by churning the cream alone,
the following is the method adopted. The Cows being milked,
the milk is carried home to the dairy in pails or larger vessels,
into which the smaller ones have been emptied, with the least
possible delay or agitation of the milk. For which reasons,
as well as in order to economize the time of the milkers, the
cows to be milked may be driven quietly home to the vici-
nity of the dairy. The milk is passed through a hair-sieve
into the vessels in which it is to remain. These vessels may
either consist of shallow troughs formed of marble or slate,
of a size to contain the milk of several cows, and having an
aperture with a stopcock at bottom ; or of shallow circular
vessels capable of containing from half a gallon to a gallon.
The latter are made of wood, but better of unglazed earthen-
ware ; and, with still greater advantage, of zinc, or of cast-
iron softened by annealing, turned smooth inside, and coated
with tin. Whichever class of coolers is employed, the milk
is emptied into them to the depth of from four to six inches,
and the liquid is left at rest in the milk-room. In twenty-

282 THE OX.

four hours, the greater part of the cream will have risen to
the surface ; but a larger quantity will be obtained if the
milk is allowed to stand for a longer time. Sometimes, in
very cold weather, it is permitted to stand for forty- eight
hours ; but twenty-four will suffice for obtaining all the more
valuable part of the cream. When the larger troughs are
used, the stop-cock is turned, and the serous milk is with-
drawn from beneath the cream ; and then the cream is in
like manner withdrawn into a separate vessel ; and in the
case of the smaller coolers, the cream is skimmed off, which
may be done by a flat perforated dish of tin. Sometimes re-
peated skimmings of the cream take place, and sometimes
its separation is favoured by the application of heat. The
apartment for containing the milk, commonly termed the
milk-room, should be well protected from the effect of the
sun's rays, and formed so as to admit of easy ventilation.
It should, if possible, be arched with brick or stone, have a
northern exposure, and be distant from standing ponds of
water and putrid effluvia.

The cream being removed, is put into a vessel, frequently
a barrel, but better a jar of unglazed earthenware, or vase
of marble. Fresh portions of cream, from successive milk-
ings of the cows, are added, until a sufficient quantity is col-
lected for churning. It may remain a week, but it is better
that the period should not exceed four or five days. In this
state the whole cream becomes acid and coagulates, which
favours the separation of the butter ; and in order to produce
coagulation, the acid juice of lemon may be added. When
the necessary quantity of cream has been collected, it is put
into the churn.

Churns are of various kinds. The most common is the
Plunge-churn, as it is called, moved by the hand. It consists
of a cylindrical vessel of wood placed upright. The agitation
is given to the milk by a perforated board, which nearly fits
the cylinder, and to which is attached a long handle. This
being moved up and down, the milk is agitated, and the butter,

THE DAIRY. 283

after a time, is separated. The other kind of churn, termed
the Barrel-churn, consists of a cylindrical vessel of wood,
placed horizontally, through which, an axle passes having
sparred arms or wings, which are fixed to it within the cylin-
der. A handle is attached, and either the churn is moved
round, or the axle with its arms is moved, the churn remain-
ing stationary. Of the two kinds described, the best is the
plunge-churn, which may either be moved by the hand, or be
on the larger scale, and driven by machinery.

The best temperature for churning is about 56° of Fahren-
heit, the heat of the milk rising 4° by the action of churning ;
and in the warmer season of summer, the most suitable time
for performing the operation is in the cool of the morning.
In winter, when the weather is cold, the temperature of the
milk should be raised to 60° or more, by the addition of warm
water. The time required for churning by the hand varies
from about an hour and a quarter to two hours ; and in win-
ter to three hours. The process should be begun gently, so
as to break the coagulum, and then continued equally and
without intermission.

The butter being formed, is collected and removed from
the churn. It is then worked to and fro on a board, or
smooth slab, so as to express the serum, dried with a cloth,
or moderately washed with water. The operation of knead-
ing may be performed by the hand, but it is better done by
wooden spatulse, the contact of the hand injuring the butter.
When the butter is not designed for immediate use, the pres-
sure and washing should be so performed as that all the
serum shall be separated, any portion of it remaining caus-
ing the butter to spoil in a short time. When the butter is
intended for sale, it is mixed with a little pure salt, and
formed into lumps or rolls, usually of a pound or half a pound
each. It is kept cool, but in no case under water. When
the butter is not designed for present consumption, it is
more or less impregnated with salt, in the proportion of an
ounce or less to the pound. The salt being worked into the

284 THE ox.

butter, the latter is put in jars or casks. The casks should
be of lime-tree, or other hard wood, carefully seasoned by
being boiled for several hours before being formed into casks,
and afterwards by being exposed to the air, and well soaked
in cold water or brine previous to use. The cask being rub-
bed in the inside with salt, the butter is pressed into it, and
in seven or eight days a quantity of melted butter, or a satu-
rated solution of salt and water, may be poured in to fill up
any vacuity between the butter and the wood ; and the whole
being then covered with a layer of salt, the top of the vessel
is put on. With the salt employed in curing may be mixed
a proportion of purified nitrate of potash, and sometimes a
quantity of sugar, which preserves the butter without com-
municating a saline taste.

The other method practised consists in churning the milk
and cream together. In this case the milk, as it is brought
from the cows, is put into the cooling vessels, as before, in
order that it may cool down quickly to the temperature of
the milk-house. When this has taken place, or even with-
out the preliminary cooling, the whole milk is emptied into
a barrel, where it remains until it becomes acid and coagu-
lates. This will take place in a week or less, according to
the temperature of the air. It is then put into the churn,
and gently churned for a few seconds, so as to break the
coagulum, and mix its parts ; and then a little hot water is
added, so as to raise the temperature to 70° or 75°. The addi-
tion of hot water is not necessary, but it saves labour by
causing the butter to separate more readily. The process of
churning is more laborious than when the cream alone is
used ; and therefore machinery should be employed to move
the churn. In the larger dairies the churn may be made to
contain sixty or seventy gallons or more, and this quantity
of milk may, by means of a small pony or slight water-power,
be churned in an hour and a half.

When the cream alone has been used in churning, the re-
siduum, after removal of the cream, is skimmilk. This sub-

THE DAIRY. 285

stance still retains the caseous matter of the milk, and may,
therefore, be employed for the making of cheese. But it is
not so well suited for this purpose as the entire milk, because
the cream, which adds to the richness of the cheese, has been
mostly withdrawn. It may be used for human food, and is
perfectly nutritious, containing both the cheesy matter and
sugar of milk. Over a large part of England it is chiefly
employed for the feeding of Hogs, which is a great misappli-
cation of a substance fitted for human aliment, and practised
in no other country in Europe.

When the milk and cream are churned together, the dairy
affords no skimmilk, But in place of it there is the butter-
milk, which is a greatly more nutritive substance than that
which is obtained when the cream alone is churned. It is
merely, in truth, the milk deprived of its butter. It is sub-
acid and cooling, and is used for food in some of the western
counties of England, largely throughout the west of Scotland,
and all over Ireland. It may be coagulated, and cheese pre-
pared from it ; but the cheese of buttermilk is of little esti-
mation. When buttermilk is kept, it partially undergoes the
alcoholic fermentation, and becomes intoxicating.

The consumption of butter in the British Islands is prodi-
giously great. It is used by all classes in the solid form as
a grateful food ; and is applied to the same purposes of house-
hold economy for which oil is used in the countries of the
olive. Notwithstanding the vast internal production, a large
importation takes place from other countries, chiefly from
Germany and Holland. The principal district of the butter
dairy in England is the southern and south-eastern counties.
Butter is brought to London in the fresh state from the dis-
tant provinces ; and even when salted, it is the practice of
the dealers to wash out the salt, and sell the butter to the
inhabitants as fresh.

The other product of the dairy is Cheese, which may either
be produced by curdling the entire milk, or by separating the
cream and coagulating the milk alone. The first process is

286 THE OX.

the preparation of the coagulating medium termed runnet or
rennet, which is most conveniently derived from the gastric
juice contained in the abomasum, or fourth stomach, of a
sucking calf. "When the animal is just killed, this organ
with the coagulated milk and chyme which it contains, is
taken out to be preserved by salting and drying in the man-
ner of bacon. When required for use, it is cut into small
pieces, and macerated in water for a few days, and the liquor,
which is Runnet, is preserved in bottles. Prepared stomachs
of the calf form the subject of commerce. They are imported
from Ireland under the name of Veils ; but every dairyman
should prepare them for himself, as in this way only he can
be assured of the strength and goodness of his runnet.

When a cheese is to be formed, the course of proceeding
is determined by the quantity of milk at the command of the
dairyman. If there is a sufficient number of cows to make
one or more cheeses at each milking, then the milk, as it is
brought from the cows, is strained through a hair-sieve into
a tub or vat, and while it is yet warm the runnet is added ;
and if it shall have been too much cooled after milking, it is
raised to the required temperature by the addition of hot
water. The quantity of runnet used depends upon its strength,
and this again on the method by which it has been prepared ;
so that no precise rule exists for adapting the quantity of
runnet to that of the milk to be acted upon. It is used in all
quantities, from a table-spoonful or two to the third part of
a pint, the rule of practice being to employ it in such a quan-
tity, as shall just suffice to coagulate the milk in the space of
not less than an hour. Previous to the addition of the run-
net, it is common, in the English dairies, to add some colour-
ing matter, in order to give a red tinge to the cheese. The
substance commonly employed is arnotto, which is derived
from the red pulp covering the seeds of the shrub Bixa Orel-
lana, and is imported from South America and the West
Indian Islands in the form of red balls. It is dissolved in a
bowl of milk by rubbing a small piece of it on a smooth stone

THE DAIRY. 287

kept for the purpose, which causes the milk to assume a deep
red colour ; and the milk thus coloured, is added to that to be
curdled in the quantity required to give it a deep orange tinge.
The dye being mixed, the runnet is added, and the whole
being stirred, the vat is covered with a thick canvass cloth,
so as to prevent the milk from cooling : the whole is then left
at rest, and the coagulation proceeds to its termination.

This is the method of proceeding, when there is a sufficient
quantity of milk at each milking of the cows to form one or
more cheeses ; but when there is not a sufficient quantity of
milk for this purpose, or when for any reason the milk of a pre-
vious collection is mixed with the new, then the older milk is
to be heated to the required temperature before being mixed
with the new. This may be done by heating the old milk
in a boiler to the temperature of about 90°, or better, by
putting the milk in a tin or copper can, and placing this in
a cauldron of boiling water ; or else by heating only such a
portion of the milk as, when added to the remainder, shall
raise it to the temperature sought for. The heated milk and
the new being then mixed together, the colouring matter and
runnet are added, the vat is covered, and the coagulation
allowed to proceed.

The most suitable temperature for the milk to be curdled
is found to be about 90°. The quantity of runnet should be
so adjusted to the liquid, as that the coagulation shall take
place in about an hour. If the coagulation take place too
quickly, either from an excess in the proportion of runnet, or
too high a temperature of the milk, the curd produced is hard
and tough, and the cheese is wanting in delicacy of texture
and flavour ; and if, on the other hand, the strength of the
runnet, or temperature of the liquid, is too small, the curd
does not acquire sufficient consistence.

The curd being formed, the whey is expressed. This is at
first done gently, because otherwise, before the curd has
acquired consistence, a portion of the cream would be ex-
pressed along with the serum. The most approved practice

288 THE ox.

is to cut the curd quickly, and in all directions, with a knife.
A common table-knife will suffice ; but it is better that it be
formed of several blades, at the distance of an inch from one
another. On dividing the curd, the whey rapidly exudes and
rises to the surface, and the curd subsides to the bottom.
As soon as this has taken place, the whey is to be rapidly
removed. This is done partly by pouring it off, and partly
by baling it out with wooden bowls, although it might be
better done by a syphon. The subdivision of the curd with
the knife at the same time is continued, and when all the
whey that can be separated in this manner is removed, the
curd is taken out and placed on a long sieve, and permitted
to drain. When the whey by these means has been drained
to the utmost, the curd is placed on a board, or in a perforated
vat. It is then minutely comminuted and compressed by the
hands ; and this manipulation is continued so long as any
whey can be expressed.

The curd is then to be subjected to the action of the cheese-
press, in order that it may be consolidated, and that all the
further serous matter may be expressed. To this end it is
pressed into the mould, which is a wooden vessel of the size
and shape of the cheese to be made, formed generally by the
turning-lathe out of a solid block of wood, and furnished with
a thick separate top, of a size sufficient to fit the interior of
the mould. A linen cloth, to be folded round the cheese, is
put into the mould ; and the comminuted curd is heaped into
the cloth, which is covered over it, and the whole is put
under the press. The curd remains in the press for an hour
or two ; when it is taken out, wrapped in a fresh cloth, and
replaced in the press. After this it is taken out every six
hours, or oftener, the same operations being repeated. In
three days, or more, according to the degree of previous ma-
nipulation, the operation will be completed. The pressure
on the curd should have been gradually increased from about
60 Ib. to 300 lb., or more.

The cheese has now to be removed to a warm apartment.

THE DAIRY. 289

If it has not been previously salted, which may have been
done either by salting the curd, or by rubbing the cheese
with salt each time it was taken out of the press, it is now
to be salted. To this end, it is to be rubbed with salt daily
for eight or ten days. It may likewise be washed once or
twice with hot water, and finally rubbed with butter, so as
to soften the external surface, and prevent its cracking. It
is then placed in the store-room, on a shelf, where it remains
until disposed of. It is for a time to be turned daily, and
the skin is to be kept clean and soft, by anointing and brush-
ing it. The cheese apartment should be moderately cool,
and be ventilated without admitting any current of wind. It
should be kept exceedingly clean, and the walls and other
parts should be frequently washed with a solution of chloride
of lime, so as to destroy effluvia, and prevent the multiplica-
tion of insects which deposit their eggs in the cheese.

When cheese of peculiar richness is required, the prac-
tice is to add a further quantity of cream to the milk to be
curdled than that which itself produces : thus the cream of
one milking is added to the milk of the following one, which
is made into curd. By this mean the milk for each cheese
has not only its own cream, but that of the previous milking.
There is waste in this practice, but the higher price of the
cheese compensates the dairyman. In this manner are made
the rich cheeses of Stilton, Cottenham, and Southam, usually
termed cream-cheeses. The process is, after having milked
the cows in the morning, to skim off the cream of the pre-
vious evening, and mix it with the new milk. The runnet
being added, the coagulation is allowed to take place in the
usual manner, with this difference, that the temperature of
the milk is kept somewhat lower, and the coagulation more
slowly produced. To retain the cream, too, the whey is
more cautiously separated, and, in place of the strong pres-
sure of the cheese-press, the cheese is pressed with cloths
bound round it. In the preparation of the cheese called
Stilton, which is the most esteemed of this class, the curd,

290 THE OX.

after being formed, is gently lifted out of the vat and placed
on a sieve. When the whey is strained off, the curd is care-
fully compressed by the hand till it has become dry and firm,
and then placed in a box or mould. It is afterwards set on
a dry board, and bound round with fillets of linen cloth,
which are tightened as occasion requires. The ends of the
cheese are carefully brushed, and when the cloths are re-
moved, the sides are treated in the same manner ; and this
manipulation is continued for two or three months. Some-
times the curd is hung upon nets, but the cheeses formed in
this way are not so much valued as those which are made in
moulds.

Another class of cheeses consists of those which are made
after a separation of the cream, usually termed skimmilk
cheeses. They are less oily, and consequently less valued
than the, others ; but they are nearly equally nutritious, and
are largely consumed in the recent state by the less opulent
classes. They withstand the heat of warm climates better
than the richer kinds, are less subject to injury from the
larvce of insects, and are better suited, accordingly, to the
victualling of ships. They should be made in the same man-
ner as the full-milk cheeses, with equal attention to the slow
coagulation of the milk, to the careful separation of the
whey, and the gradual pressure on the curd.

Cheese is produced in almost every part of the United
Kingdom ; but its quality varies greatly in different districts,
according to the care with which the manipulation is per-
formed, and the skill derived from experience. The manu-
facture is more especially carried on in the country north
and west of the line extending from the Wash to Somerset-
shire. The centre of the principal cheese-district of the
south-western division of the kingdom, is the county of
Gloucester, where the rich vales of the Severn and the Avon
are depastured by extensive herds of dairy cows. The cheese
of Gloucester is of two kinds, the single and the double.
The first is made with new milk in the morning, to which

THE DAIRY. 291

is added the milk of the previous evening deprived of its
cream, which is made into butter. The single Gloucester,
therefore, contains only half the natural cream of the milk ;
yet it is so admirably made, that it excels that of other dis-
tricts where the whole cream is consumed. The double
Gloucester, the greater part of which is produced in the hun-
dred of Berkley, is made of the milk with all its natural
cream. It is the most generally esteemed kind of cheese
produced in England, possessing all the richness that ought
to be required, with a mild and grateful flavour. Although
Gloucestershire still retains its pre-eminence, the same kind
of cheese is produced in all the neighbouring counties. The
Berkley cheeses are purchased by the cheese-factor about
Michaelmas : he judges of the quality by the blue colour of
the skin appearing through the red dye with which their
surface is tinged : he used to walk over each cheese ; if it
yielded to the pressure of the foot, it was said to be heaved,
and was rejected as unfit for the London market. The Vale
of Berkley alone is computed to produce annually from a
thousand to twelve hundred tons of these unrivalled cheeses.

From Gloucester the manufacture of cheese, on the large
scale, extends into Oxfordshire, and up the Avon into Wa